PN Interview: R-Phils Manager Dusty Wathan
Former catcher Dusty Wathan is in his first season as manager of the Double-A Reading Phillies. With a group of young, talented prosects, Wathan has led his club to a 13-6 record thus far, which has the team sitting atop the Eastern League’s Eastern division in first place.
After his 14-year playing career, Wathan began the next leg of his career, managing, with the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters in the Phillies organization in 2008. Since then, the son of former Royals manager John Wathan has climbed up the Philadelphia developmental ranks, making stops with Class A Lakewood, Class A Advanced Clearwater and now Reading.
As a player, Wathan was signed by Seattle in 1994 and went on to compete in the Florida, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Kansas City and Philadelphia organizations. With the Royals, Wathan appeared in 3 big league games in 2002.
This week, I sat down with Dusty to discuss the collection of well-regarded prospects that make up the R-Phils’ roster, including RHP Tyler Cloyd, second baseman Cesar Hernandez, catcher Sebastian Valle, outfielder Tyson Gillies and the trio of starting pitchers known as “The Baby Aces”. Check out the media player below to hear the full interview.
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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league insider. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.
