Two teams with openings at the pitching coach position closed them today: the Arizona Diamondbacks hired Matt Herges and the Philadelphia Phillies hired Bryan Price.
Herges, 49, replaces Mike Butcher, who was fired at the end of September after serving four years on the job. Herges, you will recalls, pitched for 11 seasons in the majors and most recently served as the Giants’ bullpen coach.
Price, 57, replaces Chris Young, who was fired when Gabe Kapler was dismissed. Price has a substantial track record as a big league pitching coach, running the staffs of the Reds from 2010-13, the Diamondbacks from 2006-09, and the Mariners from 2000-05. He also was the Reds manager between 2014 and 2018, going 279-387 in parts of five seasons.
As is usually the case with pitching coaches, odds are that the next time you hear about them in this space is when they are fired. If you hear about them before that it’s either because they did something really, really bad or because they appeared on a reality show or something. It’s not the most glamorous gig.
