Matt Stairs Phillies new hitting coach

Former Blue Jays DH Matt Stairs (Fredericton, NB) is the new hitting coach of the Philadelphia Phillies.  

By Andrew Hendriks
Canadian Baseball Network

Five years removed from appearing in his last major league game as a member of the Washington Nationals, Matt Stairs will be returning to the majors after being named the hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon. 

Stairs, 48, spent parts of 19 seasons in the Majors while appearing with separate 12 big league franchises and amassing a grand total of 1m895 games played dating back to 1992. 

A dignified product of Vancouver’s National Baseball Institute, the left-handed swinging masher slashed .262/.356/.477 in just over 6,000 major league plate appearances. Coupled with a keen eye at the plate, his steady offensive production earned the Fredericton, N.B. native the moniker of “professional hitter” over the course of his lengthy career.  

With the most notable coming as a member of the Phils in Game 4 of the 2008 National League Championship Series, Stairs owns the MLB record for most pinch-hit home runs with 23, and is one of only five Canadian-born sluggers to collect over 200 round trippers in the majors.

Since retiring in 2011, the former MVP candidate has spent time as an analyst for NESN and color commentator in the Phillies broadcast booth working alongside Tom McCarthy and Greg Murphy with FOX Sports. 

In 2012, his impressive career was recognized with an induction into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame and later the Canadain Baseball Hall of Fame alongside former Montreal Expos manager Felipe Alou, Minnesota Twins third baseman Corey Koskie, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Carlos Delgado and Bob Elliott in 2015.

With the announcement, Stairs joins Rob Thompson (Stratford, Ont.) of the New York Yankees and Dave McKay (Vancouver, BC) of the Arizona Diamondbacks as the only three Canadian-born coaches currently on big league staffs. The new role represents his first coaching gig in pro ball.

With regards to Major League clubs in 2016, the Phillies ranked last in nearly every offensive category including hits (1306), doubles (231), total bases (2090), runs (610) and RBI (575).

    -Follow Andrew Hendriks on Twitter (@77hendriks)