Donnie Baseball is headed back to the National League East.
Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed to reporters on Monday that ex-NL Manager of the Year Don Mattingly is close to joining the team as a bench coach, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The news comes as Mattingly just left the reigning AL champ Toronto Blue Jays earlier this offseason.
Mattingly, 64, had been rumored for several weeks now to potentially be a target for the Phillies. The move makes perfect sense too since Mattingly’s son Preston also currently serves as the general manager of the Phillies.
The elder Mattingly, a former AL MVP as a player, went on to manage 12 total seasons in Major League Baseball between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the NL East foe Miami Marlins (for whom he won NL Manager of the Year in 2020). After parting ways with the Marlins following the 2022 season, Mattingly became a bench coach for the Blue Jays in 2023 and served in that role until his departure last month.
With a move to the Phillies now imminent, Mattingly will be very familiar with his new co-workers. In addition to his son Preston, Mattingly has history with current Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who was a coach for the New York Yankees during Mattingly’s time there as a player.
In 2025, the Phillies won 96 games as well as a second straight division title but fell in four games to the eventual champion Dodgers in the NLDS. They could possibly be making some big free agent signings this offseason, but they are kicking things off by upgrading their coaching staff and hiring Mattingly.
