Ex-Phillies Player Lands Major MLB Role as Rangers Make Coaching Move

The Texas Rangers scored just 673 runs in 2026, leaving their offense among baseball’s least productive. Their struggles became especially glaring in crucial situations, where scoring opportunities repeatedly slipped away. With another season approaching, Skip Schumaker has added a new voice to his coaching staff.

“The Rangers have hired Tommy Joseph as Major League hitting coach,” reported SleeperRangers.

The Texas Rangers completed Skip Schumaker’s 2027 staff, naming Tommy Joseph as Major League hitting coach on Wednesday. Joseph joins lead hitting coach Justin Viele and assistant hitting coach Eric Dorton next season. He takes over the major league role after Alex Cintrón chose to leave Schumaker’s staff. Cintrón remains with Texas in another offensive role, while Dorton returns as assistant hitting coach.

The Rangers have not announced Joseph’s contract length or financial terms alongside Wednesday’s hiring announcement. His arrival gives Texas another coach as it tries to repair an inconsistent offense.

The need is clear after Texas struggled to turn offensive chances into runs throughout 2026. The Rangers finished 80-82, scoring 673 runs, the sixth-lowest total across Major League Baseball. Their OPS improved from .684 to .713, while their wRC+ climbed from 92 to 102. However, Texas hit .242, reached base at .317 and slugged just .396 throughout 2026. The biggest failure came with the bases loaded, when scoring chances repeatedly went unused. Texas had a .549 OPS, the league’s lowest mark.

President of baseball operations Chris Young identified those missed opportunities as a major problem.

Young said clearly, “We were a historically bad offense when the bases were loaded.”

He said Texas left scoring chances behind and needed to approach those at-bats differently. Young still defended Viele, pointing to his strong relationships and commitment to the players. “Players love JV,” Young said, describing the respect Viele has earned inside the clubhouse. Viele remains the lead coach, but Texas needs those individual gains to produce more runs.

Joseph brings experience from three minor league organizations and two major league teams. He coached Single-A St. Lucie in 2021, Double-A Binghamton in 2022, and High-A Eugene in 2023. At Eugene, hitters launched 140 home runs across 132 games, the second-most in the Northwest League. Joseph then joined Seattle as assistant hitting coach in 2024, moving to Baltimore in 2025. The 2024 Mariners averaged 4.00 pitches per plate appearance, leading American League clubs that year. Baltimore averaged 3.92 pitches per plate appearance in 2025, ranking fifth among American League clubs.

Those team statistics do not prove Joseph alone produced those results, but offer useful context. He also brings an 11-year playing career, including 249 major league games with Philadelphia. Joseph hit .247 with 43 home runs and 116 RBIs across 2 Phillies seasons. In 2018, he played 91 games in Texas’ farm system, batting .284 with 21 homers. His experience could help hitters improve pitch selection, build power, and make better situational adjustments. Young also acknowledged the front office must improve the hitters available to the coaching staff.

“We’ve got work to do as a front office to address that,” Young said.

Important things for the Rangers to improve in the offseason

The Texas Rangers have hired Tommy Joseph as major-league hitting coach, completing Skip Schumaker’s staff for 2027. His appointment comes as Texas tries to repair an offense that failed in crucial situations. The Rangers scored 673 runs, ranking 25th in the majors, despite finishing 80-82 and missing the postseason. Their league-worst .549 OPS with the bases loaded exposed one of the club’s most damaging offensive problems.

“Some of it’s personnel-related… We’ve got work to do as a front office to address that,” president of baseball operations Chris Young said.

Joseph joins lead hitting coach Justin Viele and assistant hitting coach Eric Dorton, replacing Alex Cintrón. He brings 2 seasons of major-league coaching experience, working with Seattle in 2024 and Baltimore in 2025. The Mariners averaged 4.00 pitches per plate appearance during his season, leading American League teams in that category. The Orioles averaged 3.92 in 2025, ranking fifth among American League clubs. Joseph coached 3 minor-league teams across the Mets and Giants organizations.

Eugene hitters launched 140 home runs across 132 games under Joseph, finishing second in the Northwest League. His playing career included 249 major-league games with Philadelphia, where he hit .247 with 43 home runs. Texas needs more than coaching changes after another season of uneven production. Evan Carter hit .194 with 9 home runs and 40 RBI across 141 games in center field. His .288 on-base percentage and .315 slugging percentage make another center-field option important, especially after his right-hip surgery.

First base also requires attention, even though Jake Burger led Texas with 28 home runs and 90 RBI. Burger hit .228, posted a .302 on-base percentage and struck out 167 times, limiting his overall offensive value. Justin Foscue offers an internal alternative, but Texas needs genuine competition rather than assuming the position is settled. The rotation needs similar depth behind Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and MacKenzie Gore heading into 2027. Jack Leiter went 3-7 with a 5.09 ERA before ankle trouble interrupted his season, while Kumar Rocker finished 6-11 with a 4.38 ERA.

The bullpen needs reinforcements, with contributors potentially departing through free agency. Jacob Latz emerged as an All-Star closer, while younger arms such as Peyton Gray and Gavin Collyer gained experience. Young acknowledged that Viele’s work produced improvements, but those changes did not translate into enough runs.

“I think he’s done very good things,” Young said of Viele. “It didn’t perfectly translate to the run production we needed last year. Now we’ve got to translate that individually to the collective and our ability to score runs as a collective group.”

Joseph adds another voice, but Texas must improve its roster, situational hitting, and run production.

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