You know the old six degrees of separation game? Don’t worry if you don’t because you don’t really need it to figure out a great candidate to be Rob Thomson’s bench coach next season. The Phillies bench coach job opened when they elevated last year’s number-two man, Mike Calitri, to be the field coordinator for the Phillies. At their year-end press conference it seemed like the bench coach position would go to someone outside the organization. If that’s the case, Captain Obvious has a suggestion for the Phillies.
Don Mattingly.
The former Dodgers and Marlins skipper, and Yankees first baseman – who should be in the Hall of Fame – went to his first World Series this season as the bench coach for the Toronto Blue Jays. Recently, he announced that he was stepping away from that job, but not retiring from baseball. In other words, he’s looking for a new gig.
Consider that Rob Thomson came from the Yankees organization. While he was not with the major league team while Mattingly was a player, the two were both on Yankees coaching staffs together. Next in line to consider is that if the Phillies were to hire Don Mattingly, he would not be the first Mattingly collecting a paycheck from the organization. Preston Mattingly, Don Mattingly’s son, is the Phillies vice president and general manager under Dave Dombrowski.
Even if you forget the connections that are already in place, Mattingly is a good pick just on his own merit and fits the parameters that Dombrowski put out there for the next bench coach. He has managerial experience, is well respected in the game, and certainly knows baseball.
With his decision to step down as the Blue Jays bench coach, Mattingly should have placed himself at the front of the line to become the next bench coach for the Phillies. The only question would be how he and Thomson would be able to work together. By all reports, both are pretty easy going types and the likelihood is that they would be able to work well together, but you never know.
Another leading candidate to be the next bench coach is former Marlins and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who has an unclear future with the Braves where he was a coach in 2025. Gonzalez managed the Marlins from 2007-2010 and took over the Braves in 2011 and managed them through 2016. From 2022-2024, Gonzalez was a bench coach with the Baltimore Orioles under Brandon Hyde before he returned to the Braves as a coach in 2025. With Walt Weiss taking over as the Braves manager, Gonzalez’ job is up in the air.
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