The Philadelphia Phillies announced Wednesday that they have added 28-year-old Pedro Guerrero as an assistant hitting coach on their big league team under new manager Gabe Kapler.
Guerrero spent the last two years as a bench coach for the Ogden Raptors, the rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A former infielder, Guerrero played professionally for eight seasons from 2006-13 in the Dodgers Minor League system after being signed as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic.
Kapler, who previously served a big role in the Dodgers front office as the director of player development, has expressed interest in coaching for a while now as he was a finalist for the Dodgers managerial job before they ultimately went with Dave Roberts in 2015.
Kapler became the Phillies 54th manager about a month ago, giving him his first managerial opportunity in the big leagues.
Guerrero, who is the nephew of former Major League manager Manny Acta, hit .236/.287/.351 with 23 home runs and 163 RBIs in 411 career Minor League games in the Dodgers organization.
He and Kapler aren’t the only staff members the Dodgers will have to replace this offseason. Triple-A Oklahoma City hitting coach Shawn Wooten was let go by the organization, Major League assistant hitting coach Tim Hyers left to become the hitting coach of the Boston Red Sox, and vice president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos became the president and GM of the Atlanta Braves.
Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward is currently a finalist to become the new manager of the New York Yankees.
