Categories: Rumors

Dusty Wathan, Phillies’ 3B coach, reportedly drawing managerial interest

Dusty Wathan is the third base coach for the Phillies. (Don Otto)

Philadelphia Phillies’ third base coach Dusty Wathan is reportedly a managerial candidate for two different teams looking to fill vacancies.

According to Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, both the Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals have Wathan on their radar. He interviewed with the Marlins on an off day on Sunday, and will do so with the Royals on an off day Thursday.

Wathan has been a coach in the Phillies’ organization since 2008, and is the winningest manager in Double-A Reading’s history. He was the runner-up to Gabe Kapler in the team’s managerial search prior to the 2018 season, and has since served as the third base coach for Kapler, Joe Girardi and now Rob Thomson.

What would be crazy about Wathan ending up with the Royals is that his father, John, just retired from the organization after spending nearly five decades there as a player, manager, broadcaster and advisor. Dusty, 49, would be a second-generation manager for the Royals, in addition to getting to coach the only team he ever reached the majors with, having spent three games with the big league club in 2002.

Meanwhile, Wathan has had an up-close look at the Marlins, who are a frustrating team. On one hand, likely National League Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcántara leads a pitching staff that’s deep in talent. On the other hand, the Marlins scored an NL-worst 586 runs in 2022, and unless ownership empowers general manager Kim Ng to spend in free agency, Miami will likely be left to deal from their impressive crop of pitching to improve offensively.

Wathan isn’t the only member of Rob Thomson’s coaching staff that could be moving on to bigger and better things after the team’s playoff run, as Mark Feinsand of MLB.com

reported last weekend that “there’s buzz within the industry that Phillies’ hitting coach Kevin Long is emerging as a managerial candidate.”