PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies have found Matt Stairs' replacement in the batting cage.
The club announced Friday afternoon that three coaches have joined manager Gabe Kapler's staff: Dusty Wathan, Rick Kranitz and John Mallee, who spent the past three seasons as the Cubs' hitting coach. Mallee replaces Stairs, who enjoyed success as the Phillies' hitting coach in 2017. But after the team announced that Pete Mackanin would not return, it informed his staff that they should explore other employment opportunities. Stairs took a job with the Padres.
#Phillies have retained Rick Kranitz for the 2018 major league coaching staff, while adding John Mallee as hitting coach and Dusty Wathan as third base coach.