The Phillies’ offseason is already shaping up around a simple question: what kind of offense does Don Mattingly want to build?
Mattingly, now in line to manage full-time after finishing the season as the interim, made it clear that the style he wants is less about living and dying with the long ball and more about constant pressure. He wants an offense that works counts, gets on base, and keeps the line moving from one hitter to the next.
“If you said, ‘What do you want to be?’” Mattingly said, via Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic (subscription required) after his press conference for signing a new two-year deal.
“That’s what I want to be - where we’re creating traffic all the time, we’re putting pressure on teams. How do we get there?
I don’t know. Can we get there?
That’s something you’ve got to believe you can (accomplish).”
That vision matters because Philadelphia isn’t just trying to tweak the edges. The roster needs help in several places, and the bullpen, the back end of the rotation, and the overall depth behind the everyday players all left the club looking thin. Mattingly inherited that reality when he stepped in for Rob Thomson after the 9-19 start, and there was only so much he could change on the fly with the staff he took over.
Now the roster makeover falls to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, but the personnel has to match the manager’s plan. The Phillies want the new hitting coach to bring a more analytical approach while still being able to connect with both younger players and veterans. Kevin Long will not be back in 2027, after being one of the coaches let go when Mattingly was hired, along with infield coach Bobby Dickerson.
Dickerson’s replacement is already in place, with former New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza taking over. Long’s job, though, is still open, and that hire figures to matter a lot.
So does the composition of the lineup itself. Luis Arraez, who helped shift the club’s approach at the plate after arriving ahead of the trade deadline, is a free agent. Alec Bohm is also a free agent after being arguably the team’s best hitter in the second half.
If those two aren’t back, the Phillies will have to figure out who takes those spots and whether Mattingly’s preferred style can still hold up. The manager has his blueprint. Now it’s on Dombrowski to give him the kind of players who can make it work.
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