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Bobby Dickerson to return for second stint as Phillies infield coach, per report

Bobby Dickerson will reportedly return as Phillies infield coach. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)

Another vacant role on manager Joe Girardi’s staff is reportedly set to be filled.

Bobby Dickerson will be returning to Philadelphia for a second stint as Phillies major-league infield coach, according to a report by Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

Dickerson, 58, held the same position for the Phillies in 2019 under former manager Gabe Kapler. He then spent the past two seasons as San Diego Padres bench coach — also serving as third-base coach in 2021 — under manager Jayce Tingler, who was fired after a disappointing season in which the star-studded Padres missed the postseason.

The Phillies made their own coaching cuts earlier this month as they missed the playoffs for the 10th consecutive season with a 82-80 record, their best since 2011. The team fired hitting coach Joe Dillon and previous infield coach Juan Castro prior to the final game of the regular season. Both had spent two seasons in their respective roles. Pedro Guerrero, assistant hitting coach since 2018, was told he could search for other jobs.

Former Nationals hitting coach Kevin Long was hired on Oct. 13 to take the place of Dillon, his former assistant in Washington. Long coached for the Nationals from 2018 through 2021, winning a World Series ring in 2019. He was Mets hitting coach from 2015 to 2017, and — perhaps most notably — was Yankees hitting coach from 2007 to 2014. There, he worked alongside Girardi, who took over as manager in 2009. The Yankees won the World Series against the Phillies in Girardi’s first season.

While Dickerson has never coached with the current Phillies manager before, Girardi faced him many times during his tenure as manager in New York. Dickerson began his major-league coaching career in the American League East with the Orioles. He was Baltimore’s third-base coach from 2013 to 2018.