The Philadelphia Phillies have been hard at work this offseason, reshaping parts of the franchise that will hopefully turn into a more productive 2027 campaign.

With the World Series over, teams are going to start turning their attention to improving rosters. The Phillies will have plenty of work to do in that realm, but they have already made multiple moves they hope will extract some more production out of the players in their lineup.

Carlos Mendoza, the former manager of the New York Mets, was hired to take over as infield coach, a role previously held by Bobby Dickerson. Philadelphia also moved on from hitting coach Kevin Long and replaced him with Peter Fatse.

Fatse has a lot of work ahead of him. He is learning an entirely new roster of players and how to coach them. But time is not on his side because of the impending lockout that will disable any communication that he can have with players on the 40-man roster.

Peter Fatse has one month for an offseason's worth of work

“You can see things from across the field and studying video and getting the analytical information — but the why is the most important part to me as a coach,” Fatse said, via Tim Britton of The Athletic (subscription required). “You have to understand why somebody does something or what has helped them throughout their career get to this point. You have to understand and appreciate those things before you jump in and make an assumption.”

Normally, this is a process that would unfold over the span of months. The offseason lasts about four months before teams report for spring training. There, even more hands-on work would be done between a coach and his players.

That isn’t a luxury that Fatse will be afforded this year. The offseason is going to be completely different with labor unrest, which could mean a condensed spring training as well whenever games are played in 2027.

Getting this Phillies group on track will be a unique challenge for Fatse. With the Boston Red Sox, before he was part of their mass firings in April, he was tasked with helping younger players find their way in the Major Leagues.

Phillies will present Peter Fatse with challenges

It is the complete opposite in Philadelphia. Justin Crawford is the only youngster who is part of the mix right now, and Aidan Miller could join next year. Outside of those two, it is a lot of established Big Leaguers who are set in their ways.

“Hitting is always a collaboration with the player,” the new hitting coach said. “Players with 10-plus years in the big leagues, that’s even more the case.”

Building trust is of the utmost importance. Fatse will have to do that over the course of one month before communications are cut off by the lockout.

He is putting in the work and doing everything he can. November is going to be a busy month for him, making trips to meet with players individually to make a good first impression ahead of his first season as the team’s hitting coach.