In a rather shocking turn of events, the Philadelphia Phillies announced Sunday that pitching coach Bryan Price “has opted to retire from a full-time coaching capacity.”
“Bryan provided a trusted voice and had a major impact on our pitchers this season,” Phillies interim general manager Ned Rice said Sunday. “We wish Bryan nothing but the best in his retirement and thank him for his contributions this past season.”
Price, a former major league manager, is just 58 years old and was seen as a pretty big get when Joe Girardi secured him on his staff last offseason. Even when you consider that the Phillies had a historically-bad bullpen, the insinuation here is that Price chose to leave after just one season in the role. The wording of the announcement suggests that it’s possible Price stays in baseball in some smaller role moving forward. Whether that will be in Philadelphia or not is unclear.
With Price leaving Girardi’s staff, the Phillies will have their fifth pitching coach in as many years in 2021. Bob McClure was Pete Mackanin’s pitching coach in 2017, while Gabe Kapler had Rick Kranitz in 2018 and Chris Young in 2019. There was no reason to think that Price, who came to the Phillies in 2020, wouldn’t be here for the long haul.