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Phillies promote Preston Mattingly, Brian Barber to assistant GM roles

Preston Mattingly was promoted to Phillies assistant general manager, player development. (Cheryl Pursell)

Following a season in which the Phillies reached the National League Championship Series on the big-league side, the club rewarded some key members of its player development and scouting staffs.

Preston Mattingly, who joined the organization as Philadelphia’s farm director in September 2021, has been promoted to assistant general manager, player development. Brian Barber, the franchise’s scouting director since October 2019, has been named assistant general manager, amateur scouting. The two will serve alongside existing assistant general managers Anirudh Kilambi, Ned Rice and Jorge Velandia under vice president and general manager Sam Fuld and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“Brian and Preston have done a tremendous job for us in leading our amateur scouting and player development departments, respectively,” Dombrowski said in a statement. “Our minor league talent has continued to progress because of the hard work of Brian and Preston and their staffs. Both Brian and Preston will continue to lead their respective departments while growing within our organization.”

While top prospect Andrew Painter was expected to make an impact on the major-league roster this season but missed the entire year due to needing Tommy John surgery, a number of players who have come through the system under Mattingly helped the Phillies in 2023. Center fielder Johan Rojas became a starter for the second half of the season, while reliever Orion Kerkering made his debut right before the regular season concluded. Both players had their struggles during the postseason for Philadelphia, but still rose threw the minors quickly and flashed potential at the top level.

Infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee was also a key cog as he was traded to Detroit in exchange for Michael Lorenzen, who helped the Phillies rotation in the second half.

Barber has overseen the Phillies’ drafts since 2020, selecting right-hander Mick Abel, Painter, outfielder Justin Crawford and infielder Aidan Miller with his first-round selections. He also selected Kerkering in the fifth round in 2022.

Additionally, the Phillies promoted Derrick Chung to director of international scouting, Edwin Soto to assistant director of player development and Connor Betbeze to assistant director of amateur scouting, while Sal Agostinelli, the Phillies’ director of international scouting since 2017, is becoming the team’s senior advisor for international scouting.