By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Despite Gabe Kapler stating in late September that the entire Philadelphia Phillies coaching staff would return as is in 2019, in fact, the rookie manager's statement was far from the truth.
On Friday, the club announced its "finalized" 2019 coaching staff, following its recent changes:
- Paco Figueroa was hired on Nov. 6 as major league outfield/baserunning coach. Figueroa formerly served as the Los Dodgers minor league hitting coordinator.
- Hired in Nov. 2017, Sam Fuld, the Phillies Major League Player Information Coordinator — a liason between the analytics department and the players — also worked in uniform as an outfield coach during 2018 season. Figueroa will assume Fuld's outfield coaching role, so he can solely focus on analytics in 2019.
- The Phillies promoted Chris Young from assistant pitching coach to pitching coach, in place of Rick Kranitz. Kranitz will not return, as Young was reportedly sought after this offseason by other clubs, one being in the National League East. The Phillies simply did not want to lose Young.
- The Phillies promoted David Lundquist on Friday to assistant pitching coach to replace Young. Lundquist was most recently the Triple-A Lehigh Valley pitching coach each of the last three seasons, and the Double-A Reading pitching coach in 2013-2015. Lundquist has been with the Phillies organization for 11 seasons overall.
The rest of Kapler's 2019 coaching staff is as follows, according to MLB.com: Rob Thomson (bench coach), John Mallee (hitting coach), Pedro Guerrero (assistant hitting coach), José David Flores (first base coach), Dusty Wathan (third base coach), Jim Gott (bullpen coach), Bob Stumpo (bullpen catcher/catching coach) and Craig Driver (bullpen catcher/receiving coach).
While losing Kranitz is tough, Young and Lundquist offer value to the Phillies coaching staff. MLB.com's Todd Zolecki describes Young as "well-versed in data," while The Morning Call's Tom Housenick notes that Lundquist guided Lehigh Valley to the International League’s second-best WHIP and fourth-best ERA this past season — led by Cole Irvin and Enyel De Los Santos.
Kranitz was let go the same night his mentee, Aaron Nola, placed third in the National League Cy Young Award race. Kranitz told Zolecki that he is grateful for the time he had in Philly, and loved the city's passionate fans. Kranitz joined the Phillies in 2016 as bullpen coach, and was assistant pitching coach in 2017, before becoming pitching coach this past season.
"Of course, I was surprised," Kranitz said. "I built so many great relationships with these young men. I'm just sorry that I'm not able to see it through. I felt like they all grew. They all grew and I'm very proud of that.
"I'm going to miss them."
