PHILADELPHIA -- After the Red Sox dismissed Peter Fatse in April, he joined the Rays as a hitting consultant.

For months, he worked closely with the American League’s best team. This postseason, he watched the Brewers put on a hitting clinic against San Diego, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, clinching their first World Series championship in franchise history. Fatse faces significant challenges as the Phillies’ new hitting coach. He needs to turn a free-swinging, top-heavy lineup that ranked 19th in MLB in runs into one that competes and grinds down pitchers like Milwaukee and Tampa Bay.

There’s so much to learn and do.

“It’s kind of drinking contextually through a fire hose right now with information,” Fatse said Friday morning on Zoom.

There are plenty of ways to measure an offense besides runs scored, of course. Fatse was asked if there’s a specific statistic he considers more than others when measuring a lineup’s progress and performance. He cited OPS, which is cleaner and simpler than expected metrics that measure quality of contact, etc.

In this case, Milwaukee was tied for third in MLB with a .744 OPS. Tampa Bay ranked eighth (.728).

The Phillies were 22nd (.707).

That’s a huge gap to close.

Everybody knows the Phillies swing a lot and they chase a lot. It’s one reason for their struggles this year. But are those behaviors that can be changed? We’ll see.

“Every offense is subject to what you swing at,” Fatse said. “For me, it just comes down to the conversation around what you're swinging at. But more specifically, before two strikes, how do you prioritize what parts of the zone that you want to attack? And having a game plan for that, and then ultimately being able to be agile when the game tells you something else is needed.

“It’s really just working through that thought process … on what can be done. There's a variety of things. We’ve worked through different ways to practice it and train it. Sometimes it's a mindset, an execution thing. All those things you start to figure out ultimately where different players are because it’s so individualized at times, and what messaging needs to be best suited for each guy.”

Perhaps no guy is more important next year than Trea Turner. After the Phillies lost to the Braves in the NLDS, Turner was asked why the offense took a step backward in 2026.

“Me,” he said. “I think it's pretty simple. When you hit first or second, you get a lot of at-bats, and I kind of get things going. So a lot of that's on me.”

Fatse has texted already with Turner, who has seven years remaining on an 11-year, $300 million contract. Turner’s ability to return to form both offensively and defensively in 2027 is critical.

“Trea has a ton of talent,” Fatse said. “I think from my perspective, first and foremost, getting to understand his priorities is really important to me, and what's helped him get to this place. And then from there, just kind of building off his strengths again, which I just see as a guy that can move the ball around the ballpark. He's a doubles/triples threat. He's going to run into some homers, obviously speed on the basepaths. There’s just so many ways he can beat you on offense.”

Every fall, everybody dissects the World Series champion and tries to come up with reasons why it won.

This year, it’s the fact the Brewers not only chase and swing less than any other team, but they also hit the ball to the opposite field more than anybody. They were fun to watch because they wore out pitchers and put the ball in play.

But can a team like the Phillies do that? Is the Brewers’ hitting makeup more personnel-driven or is it more about coaching and mindset?

“I think a lot of it is the personnel aspect,” Fatse said. “Having guys that are more contact-oriented, decision-oriented, things that within their profile -- maybe they came up through a Minor League system or were drafted or acquired because of those skills.

“The thing that just impressed me watching Milwaukee … it’s just the tenacity. Their at-bats were just fantastic. They just really have this grind-you-down mentality. Again, you know, in the playoffs, when you're facing leverage matchups night in and night out, what you swing at -- again, you're facing premier stuff, you're facing the most challenging matchups -- precision is really important, and those guys obviously have a lot of precision in that lineup as well.”