One of the worst-kept secrets in Philadelphia sports media is now official.
Lochlahn March is replacing Alex Coffey on the Phillies' beat this season for The Philadelphia Inquirer:
You may have figured this out from my spring training posts, but I’ve officially joined the @PhillyInquirer Phillies beat. I’ve loved baseball all my life and this is a dream come true.
I know I have big shoes to fill, and I’m thankful to everyone who has welcomed me already.
(It’s a very big day for her.) pic.twitter.com/zGW7oxsQmd
Hello, a quick work update! After three years on the Phillies beat, I'm moving to sports features for @PhillyInquirer.
This is a dream job and I'm very grateful for it. I'll be writing about everything Philly sports-related, so if you have any ideas, I'm at [email protected]!
Thank you to everyone who followed along over the past three years. It's been a lot of fun, and I've learned a ton, from beat writers, players, coaches, Frankie Two Scoops, etc
I'm very excited for the next chapter, and very excited for @lochlahn, who is now on the Phillies beat
I'll still dip in on Phillies from time to time, but will now be writing about a little bit of everything*
*Please send ideas. PLEASE
Thanks everyone 🩶
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Lochlahn has been covering the Phillies down in Clearwater, alongside Scott Lauber, the other beat writer for The Inquirer that does a very good job. She's been around Citizens Bank Park the last couple years and was pretty much on the beat full time in the second half of last season preparing for this transition. She's already better than me at protecting her laptop in the press box:
A Nick Castellanos foul ball into the press box just broke my laptop 😬😬 pic.twitter.com/y2CXKzjrN1
95 mph foul ball from Alec Bohm nearly got my computer lol pic.twitter.com/n24fU752Xn
Meanwhile, Alex — as noted in her tweet thread — spent the last three years on the beat covering the Phillies after having previously covered the then-Oakland A's for The Athletic. Her story helped the popularize "The Daycare" nickname for the group of (at the time) young players that included Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott. Alex has written some great features already, and with that now her full-time focus, she's surely someone worth continuing to follow.