Phil Cundari

Felice Philip Cundari

• Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190 lbs.
• School Seton Hall University, Rutgers University
• High School Cliffside Park High School

• Born February 10, 1964 in Cliffside Park, NJ USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

After a stellar high school baseball career at Cliffside Park High School, Phil Cundari attended Seton Hall University where he won 26 games from 1983-1985 and was named an All-American in 1985. The Oakland Athletics drafted him in the fourth round of the 1985 amateur draft and Cundari pitched in their minor league system until 1988. He returned to Seton Hall to finish his bachelor's degree in social work in 1989 before earning a master's degree in psychiatric social work from Rutgers University in 1990. Off the baseball field, Cundari runs his own private practice as a sports performance consultant. A licensed psychotherapist, he specializes in peak performance and mental toughness training for athletes of all levels.

Cundari never intended to coach until Seton Hall head coach Rob Sheppard invited Cundari to speak to the team. As they say, one thing led to another and Seton Hall hired Cundari as an assistant coach on September 10, 1999. He remained at Seton Hall for eighteen years. The pitching corps at Seton Hall did well under Cundari's leadership and he was named the National Pitching Coach of the Year in 2011. In July of 2017 Rutgers University hired Cundari away from Seton Hall and he remained the pitching coach at Rutgers through 2019. When head coach Joe Litterio was fired in May 2019, Cundari was named the interim head coach and interviewed for the position. Rutgers hired Steve Owens instead.

In 2020 the Toronto Blue Jays hired Cundari to be the pitching coach for the Lansing Lugnuts of the Midwest League. Unfortunately, the 2020 season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He was pitching coach of the Vancouver Canadians in 2021-2022. Cundari moved to the Philadelphia Phillies' organization as pitching coach of the Jersey Shore BlueClaws in 2023 and Reading Fightin Phils in 2024.

Related Sites

• Rutgers bio
• Seton Hall bio
• Jersey Dugout bio