Dave Dombrowski says Phillies and Don Mattingly have ‘mutual interest’ in bench coach role

ORLANDO — When the Phillies began their search for a new bench coach in October, Dave Dombrowski said their ideal candidate would have managerial experience.

Don Mattingly, who stepped down from the Blue Jays’ bench coach job following the World Series, certainly fits that bill. And he’s also the father of Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly.

Nothing has been finalized yet, but Dombrowski said Monday that the Phillies have “mutual interest” with Mattingly for the position.

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“We still have some final details we’re working through, so it’s not official, but we have really focused on speaking with Don and trying to make that happen, and we’re hopeful that it will,” Dombrowski said at baseball’s winter meetings.

Manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long worked with Mattingly in the Yankees organization. Mattingly played 14 seasons with New York.

“I think it’d be awesome,” Thomson said. “I think it’s a perfect fit for a ballclub and just his intelligence and presence and experience. It would be a really good fit.”

Mattingly spent the last three seasons as Toronto’s bench coach under John Schneider. As the Dodgers’ manager from 2011 to 2015, Mattingly led the team to three divisional titles. He also managed the Marlins for seven seasons, winning Manager of the Year in 2020.

One thing has remained elusive throughout his playing and coaching career: winning a World Series.

“Still trying to work through different things, but obviously we share a common goal with everybody in the organization,” Preston Mattingly said. “We just want to win a world championship. Think he fits our roster really well, and our staff. So [I’m] excited.”

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Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler continues to progress in his rehab from thoracic outlet decompression surgery and began playing catch last week, Dombrowski said.

Wheeler has been working with the Phillies’ training staff three times a week.

“He needs to strengthen some muscles, because he hasn’t used them, which is just normal,” Dombrowski said. “But everything’s been encouraging. The doctor signed off for him to continue to move forward. So we feel good where he is.”

Wheeler underwent surgery to treat venous thoracic outlet syndrome on Sept. 23. The expected timeline for recovery is six to eight months, which would put his return between the end of spring training and the end of May.

While the bullpen isn’t the biggest area of need for the Phillies this offseason after acquiring Jhoan Duran in July, they have some flexibility with how they approach their relief depth.

“We’ve got five guys that are pretty solid, when you start talking about Duran, three lefties [José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Tanner Banks] and [Orion] Kerkering,” Dombrowski said. “So that’s five, but that leaves three more spots out there. So how those all fit into play, it’s not like anybody’s solidified for those last three spots.”

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Dombrowski said prospect Alex McFarlane, who was added to the Phillies’ 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft, will enter spring training as a reliever. The right-hander transitioned from a starting role to the bullpen in August, and finished the year with double-A Reading.

“Our people really liked the way he threw the ball at that time,” Dombrowski said. “So I would think he’d come to camp as a reliever. And when you have that type of arm and all of a sudden you’re throwing strikes, anything can happen.”