The Phillies have named most of their major league coaches for Manager Ryne Sandberg's 2014 staff. We know the Phillies will feature Pete Mackanan at third base, Juan Samuel at first base, Larry Bowa as bench coach, and Steve Henderson and Wally Joyner as hitting coach and assistant hitting coach, respectively. But, the Phillies have yet to name a pitching coach. The holdup may be that the Phillies are interested in Bryan Price.
The Cincinnati Reds fired manager Dusty Baker after a very quick playoff exit. Baker's pitching coach for the Reds the last four seasons, Bryan Price, is the only known candidate for the open managerial job. Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty has no plans to hire a manager anytime soon:
"We are not going to rush into anything," Jocketty said on Tuesday. "We probably won't do anything until after the World Series. I'm not going to rush just to get it over with."
So what does that mean for the Phillies? They may have interest in Price as their pitching coach. But Price has expressed interest in the Reds' managerial vacancy and could wait and see if he gets the job there before deciding where to coach. There are no bigger names available at the moment, so the Phillies may be holding off for the opportunity to get Price.
Price worked for the Phillies in 2009 as a minor league pitching consultant. He has experience working as a pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners from 2001 through 2006, the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2007 through May 2009 before joining the Phillies, and the Cincinnati Reds from 2010 to the present.
Price's pitching staffs have shown tremendous improvment under his leadership, and the Phillies certainly could use something like that right now. The 2001 pitching coach of the year would be a nice fit for a Phillies team looking for a new voice.
Amaro mentioned he is holding off to see if he has other candidates to CSN Philly's Jim Salisbury:
“We could make a hire right now — one or two or three of the people we’ve already interviewed,” Amaro said. “We like what we’ve seen so far. But we’re trying to do our due diligence and see if there are other candidates.”
Without a bullpen coach named, Rod Nichols could be in the Phillies plans in one respect or another. Nichols could be the backup plan if they cannot land Price, and if they do, Nichols could work with Phillies pitchers in the bullpen.
Just do not expect a Phillies hire until the Reds do.
