The Phillies’ managerial search has already hit one dead end with Alex Cora reportedly passing on formal talks and opting to spend another year away from managing. That leaves Philadelphia back at the drawing board, and while Don Mattingly has already guided the club to the NLDS after stepping in during the 2026 season, he has said he is not ready to return to the job despite backing from his players.
If the Phillies keep looking, two names from the Blue Jays’ current staff could come into focus: DeMarlo Hale and Pete Walker.
Hale is the cleaner fit on paper. He came back to Toronto as associate manager before the 2024 season after previously serving as the Blue Jays’ bench coach from 2013 to 2018, a stretch that included the club’s trips to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016. That experience put him inside a pressure-packed contender’s clubhouse, and he later added another layer of value in Cleveland, where he worked as bench coach from 2021 through 2023 and also gained time as an acting manager.
His reputation follows the same theme: trusted, steady, and useful in just about every corner of the operation. Hale has been described as an operational “Mr. Fix-It” who helps connect the front office, coaching staff and players, and he’s become a major presence in Toronto’s clubhouse.
The praise from players is strong, too. In an article on BlueJays.com by Keegan Matheson, Blue Jays outfielder Myles Straw said, "Honestly, as much as I hate to say it, he’s like a father figure to me.
I love him. He’s one of the best coaches I’ve had in the game.
Hopefully, he doesn’t see this, because I don’t need his head to blow up.”
Straw has known Hale through both Cleveland and Toronto, and that kind of player trust matters, especially when it comes from someone who may not be in the lineup every day but still has real weight in the room. For a Phillies team looking for a steady hand after what finished as a disappointing season, that sort of presence could carry real appeal.
Walker would be the more unusual path, but he brings a different kind of resume. He is the longest-tenured active MLB pitching coach with one team, and his ties to Toronto run deep. As a player, he spent four of his eight major-league seasons with the Blue Jays, appearing in 124 of his 144 career games there and making all 31 of his starts for the club.
He returned to the organization in 2009 to work with rehabbing pitchers, then led Double-A New Hampshire’s staff during its 2011 Eastern League championship season. Toronto brought him onto the major-league staff as bullpen coach in 2012 and promoted him to pitching coach a year later. Since then, he has worked under John Gibbons, Charlie Montoyo and John Schneider while helping the Blue Jays reach the postseason multiple times, including a World Series appearance.
Walker’s track record with pitchers stands out. One of the clearest examples is Robbie Ray, whom Walker helped refine from a trade deadline castoff into a Cy Young award winner in one season. The source also points to the huge year the Blue Jays just got from Dylan Cease, who will likely finish second in Cy Young voting this year.
The question for Philadelphia is whether that kind of pitching expertise and years of dugout experience would translate to the manager’s chair. Walker is often seen in long conversations with Schneider during games, sorting through pitching plans and bullpen moves, which gives a glimpse of how deeply involved he already is in the Blue Jays’ game management.
Hale may be the more natural candidate because he has already handled acting-manager duties, but both coaches bring the kind of credibility, postseason background and player relationships the Phillies seem to be searching for.
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