Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Phillies are “zeroing in” on Triple-A manager Dusty Wathan to take over as the big club’s manager.
Wathan has managed the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for one season, where he went 80-62. He has managed at every level in the Phillies organization, with stops at Single-A Williamsport, Single-A Lakewood, Hi-A Clearwater and Double-A Reading before taking over at Lehigh Valley last September. Before his coaching career he spent 14 seasons in the minos as a player, and had a brief cup of coffee with the Kansas City Royals in 2002
Wathan, who is 44, is the son of former Royals manager John Wathan.
There has been no official announcement from the club yet, but it would make a lot of sense to give the job to a man who, over the past several seasons, managed the players the Phillies will count on in the next few years as they climbed the ladder to the bigs.
