Henderson, McClure Agree to Contracts for 2016

According to Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Phillies have come to terms on contracts with hitting coach Steve Henderson and pitching coach Bob McClure for 2016 while hiring Rick Kranitz as the bullpen coach and John McLaren as the catching coach. Lawrence also stated that the Phillies have reiterated that contracts have been extended to Larry Bowa and Juan Samuel.

Analysis: Under Henderson, the Phillies ranked 24th in batting average, 29th in on-base percentage, and 28th in slugging last season, actually matching their rankings in batting average and slugging from 2014 but getting worse in 2015 in on base percentage. McClure was hired prior to the 2015 season and presided over a Phillies’ pitching staff that got significantly worse in 2015. While the Phils had a pretty poor pitching record in 2014 (20th in ERA in 2014 (3.81), 19th in FIP (3.81), and 21st in xFIP (3.83)), the team took demonstrable strides backwards in the wrong direction with a 4.69 ERA (29th), 4.40 FIP (28th), and a 4.29 xFIP (26th).

While Henderson largely presided over the same hitters and had, perhaps, little to work with, McClure saw large turnover in his stable of pitchers and, year over year, had to face the loss of a quarter season of Cliff Lee and a full versus half season of Cole Hamels. McClure should show some improvement in 2016, even if just by default, as he will have some more familiar names with greater potential, such as Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, and others.