Inside The Phillies

Jason Ochart Out as Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Hitting Coordinator

On Saturday, Philadelphia Phillies minor league hitting coordinator Jason Ochart announced his time with the team is coming to an end after three and a half seasons.
Leo Morgenstern|
Jason Ochart Out as Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Hitting Coordinator
Jason Ochart Out as Philadelphia Phillies Minor League Hitting Coordinator

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As of Saturday afternoon, Jason Ochart is no longer working in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He made the announcement in a Twitter post, in which he thanked the staff, fans, and players for all their support.

He specifically singled out “The Daycare,” explaining how proud he was to see so many homegrown hitters producing for the big league club.

Dalton Guthrie, the latest addition to the so-called “Daycare,” had a big game on Friday night, recording his first big league hit and RBI. Guthrie is surely one of those minor league hitting success stories Ochart is so proud of.  

In addition to praising the newest crop of hitters to reach the Major Leagues, Ochart also expressed his confidence in the player development system as a whole. He firmly believes it is in a much better place than it was when he first joined the organization. He is optimistic about Philadelphia’s future.

Ochart was hired as the Phillies minor league hitting coordinator ahead of the 2019 season. He is also the director of hitting at Driveline Baseball. He performed both jobs simultaneously throughout his tenure in Philadelphia.

Ochart suggested the decision to leave was his own, writing “After much thought, I’ve decided that it’s time for something new.” However, a tweet from Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb of The Athletic implies otherwise. As Gelb put it, “The Phillies are going in a different direction with their minor league hitting program after a year of evaluation.”

The two statements are not entirely contradictory, but it does remain somewhat unclear why Ochart and the Phillies decided to part ways mid-season. The team has yet to release an official statement on the matter.

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Leo Morgenstern
LEO MORGENSTERN

Leo Morgenstern is a writer and editor for Inside the Phillies. He also writes for FanGraphs and Just Baseball, and his work has appeared on Pitcher List and Baseball Prospectus. He previously covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. You can follow him on Twitter @morgensternmlb.

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