Phillies hire Joe Dillon as hitting coach

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Joe Dillon, the clear focus of the Phillies' search for a new hitting coach, has been hired to join Joe Girardi's staff.

The former Nationals assistant hitting coach has earned recognition as an ascending coach and his resume was only bolstered by Washington's championship season.

For two seasons in Washington, Dillon was the assistant to hitting coach Kevin Long, who spent seven seasons as Girardi's hitting coach with the Yankees. 

The relationship between Dillon and Long dates back to Dillon's playing days when Long was one of his hitting coaches. The two worked together during offseasons, and Long later brought him aboard when he got the Nationals hitting coach job in 2018.

Prior to joining the Nats, Dillon was the Marlins' minor league hitting coordinator from 2015-17.

Dillon, 44, played in the majors with the Marlins, Brewers and Rays. He has gained recognition around the game for marrying new-age science with old-school principles in coaching hitters. Long, in fact, has called Dillon “the best assistant hitting coach in the baseball.”

Dillon succeeds Charlie Manuel, who assumed the hitting coach position on a temporary basis when the Phillies fired John Mallee in August.

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