Phillies Hitting Coach Kevin Long Confident in Alec Bohm's Offensive Capabilities

Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long has taken on a new project in Alec Bohm this offseason. Helping him to "find his swing" and become an offensive force in the Philadelphia lineup.

© Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Phillies officially announced the hire of new hitting coach Kevin Long on Oct. 13, 2021, just 10 days after the 2021 season concluded and 49 days prior to the MLB lockout.

Following the CBA expiration on Dec. 1, Long was no longer be able to work with the Phillies 40-man roster that struggled under former hitting coach Joe Dillon last year. Long and the Phillies were no longer able to utilize the team's training facilities and fields. Like with all new hires across MLB, Long had quite the task ahead of him.

“It takes a long time [to build trust]. It doesn’t happen in a day. Doesn’t happen in a week. It usually doesn’t happen in a month. A lot of times it takes years. And if you lose two months, when do you gain that [back]? So I guess that’s the difficult part," Long told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I don’t know Didi [Gregorius]. I don’t know Rhys Hoskins. I don’t know these guys. I’ve seen them from a distance, but I wouldn’t expect them to trust me the first day they walk into camp, that’s for sure. Where as if I had two months, and I saw them beforehand, I think they’d walk in here and say, ‘Hey, K-Long, what’s up!’ And then you’re already halfway there. So that’s the tough part."

One Phillies hitter particularly struggled at the plate last season, third baseman Alec Bohm. Although Bohm's defensive struggles were apparent when he debuted in Aug. 2020, he flourished offensively. His swing was majestic, and he produced an OBP of .400 in 180 plate appearances. Bohm finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.

Some might boil 2021's struggles down to a simple "sophomore slump," but Bohm looked like a different hitter last season. The 25-year-old lost his confidence, which in turn, foiled his approach at the plate. He finished 2021 with a slash line of just .247/.305/.342, and even got demoted to triple-A in August.

But Bohm is in good hands with Long. Most recently, Long helped slugger Kyle Schwarber while they were both with the Washington Nationals. Long fixed his approach at the plate and redefined Schwarber as a top tier offensive threat. 

Long did his homework before meeting with Schwarber in Feb. 2021, and helped him in "not trying so much" while up at bat. Schwarber improved his OPS by over .200 from 2020 (.701) to 2021 (.928), becoming a fairly impressive leadoff hitter.

“The more that you add on and the more pieces that you have involved in your swing, the harder hitting becomes," said Long. "The more your head moves, the more your body moves. They’re throwing the ball harder than they’ve ever thrown it, so I really want my hitters to have less movement as opposed to more movement."

Kevin Long yells at home plate umpire Sam Holbrook after being ejected against the Milwaukee Brewers in the sixth inning at Nationals Park / © Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

While Bohm is a different hitter than Schwarber, the Phillies' 2018 first round pick did appear to be "trying too hard" at the plate. So Long chose to proceed the same way. He watched video, and held a batting practice in Clearwater, Fl. on Nov. 30 with Bohm, Matt Vierling, Adam Haseley, and Luke Williams, who all live in the area.

Alex Coffey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Bohm made a "strong impression" on Long during about 4-5 sessions in which the players he worked with were given feedback and drills to work on over the course of the lockout.

"[Bohm's] approach is really, really good when he's able to kind of stay in the middle of field and even a little bit to right-center," Long said. "I've always liked his approach. I will say this: He’s going to be closer to the hitting position, and he’s going to have a shorter swing than he had last year. So I would say Alec is going to be a little bit more spread out, he’s going to have a little less load, and everything he’s gonna do is gonna be shorter and more precise to get to the ball."

Although Long wishes he got to spend more time working with his hitters this offseason, he is confident that Bohm will “be a force in this league for a long time," and hopefully the "new and improved" Bohm brings that pop back to the Philadelphia lineup in 2022.

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