The Phillies have taken another swing at Boston’s old coaching tree, and this one reads like a pointed nudge toward Alex Cora.
Philadelphia has reportedly hired former Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse as its next hitting coach, according to Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. The club has not officially announced the move yet, but Varnes said the information came from anonymous sources inside the organization.
It’s the latest Philadelphia move that keeps Cora in the conversation. Dave Dombrowski, who originally hired Cora in Boston nine years ago, has twice offered him a job with the Phillies since Cora’s firing in April, and Cora turned both down.
Fatse arrives with plenty of Red Sox baggage attached. Boston brought him in as assistant hitting coach in 2019, elevated him to hitting coach in 2022, and kept him in that role for nearly four years before firing him alongside Cora and four other coaches on April 25 after the team’s ugly start to the 2026 season. After that, he spent time as a consultant in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
During most of Fatse’s run from 2022-25, the Red Sox ranked fourth in batting average, 11th in on-base percentage and sixth in slugging percentage, Varnes noted. Fenway Park’s dimensions help shape those numbers, too, especially with the Green Monster playing into the club’s offensive profile and the Red Sox often leading the league in doubles.
The move has sparked the idea that Philadelphia may be positioning itself for a bigger play down the road. Cora has already said he has no plans to manage in 2027, with the Red Sox paying him that season as the final year of his three-year extension from the middle of the 2024 season. That still leaves the door open beyond that, though he also appeared on the October 26 episode of Rob Bradford’s “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast and said he isn’t sure if he wants to return to managing at all.
Some around the Red Sox beat have wondered whether Cora could eventually drift toward a front office role instead of returning to the dugout.
One thing has been clear throughout his Boston tenure: Cora stood up for his coaches. He protected them even when the front office questioned their work.
Craig Breslow reportedly tried to fire Fatse in the past, but Cora blocked it and said he’d have to fire both of them. Breslow eventually did.
So yes, this hire looks a lot like Philadelphia making another run at Cora by bringing in one of his guys. Whether Fatse is enough to pull him back into managing remains a question for 2028.
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