The San Diego Padres announced their 2022 coaching staff on Monday. Among the notable additions is former Phillies pitching coach Bryan Price, who was named senior advisor to the Major League Coaching staff.
Price, 59, served as the Phillies pitching coach in 2020. He retired from coaching shortly after the season.
“COVID has been extremely challenging for all of us,” Price told the media at the time (via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). “It accelerated this for me. It was a reminder of what it’s like to be away from family. The inability for them to access me because of the limitations of the world we live in was difficult. That said, it was clear to me by end of the season and the weeks I’ve been home that I’m just done full time on the field.”
In his role with the Padres, Price will “…work alongside the Major League coaching staff throughout spring training and the 2022 season, serving as both an on-field instructor and a mentor within the clubhouse.”
Unless he had a change of heart, the Padres job probably doesn’t require him to be in the dugout for all 162 games. It’s a suitable gig for Price, who resides in Arizona. He’ll stay relatively close to his family while also getting to work alongside a highly regarded manager in Bob Melvin.
When Price was the Phillies pitching coach, the starting rotation had the 10th best ERA in MLB (4.08), but the bullpen was one of the worst units in the sport’s history. Price said at the time of his initial retirement that the bullpen’s performance had nothing to do with his decision to step away from the game.
“If we won the World Series, I don’t think my decision would have been any different,” Price said.
Caleb Cotham, who was hired to replace Price as the pitching coach, is entering his second year in the role. He’s the first Phillies pitching coach to stay in the job longer than a year since Bob McClure returned for a fourth season in 2017.
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