PHILADELPHIA -- Don Mattingly’s first season in Philadelphia will now include a place in the home dugout for one of baseball’s signature nights.
Major League Baseball announced Thursday that Mattingly, the Phillies’ interim manager, has been selected by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to serve as an honorary coach for the National League at the 2026 All-Star Game on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park.
For Mattingly, it is another All-Star chapter in a baseball life that has already included six appearances as a player, two previous coaching assignments in the Midsummer Classic and managerial stops with the Dodgers and Marlins 54before he arrived in Philadelphia.
But this one comes with a different backdrop.
Mattingly became the Phillies’ interim manager in late April, stepping into a season that had already demanded a course correction. Now, less than three months later, he will represent the host club on the National League staff when the All-Star Game returns to Philadelphia for the first time since 1996.
Roberts, who will manage the NL squad for the second consecutive year and fifth time overall, also invited Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol to serve as an honorary coach. Roberts earned the assignment after leading the Dodgers to the 2025 World Series championship, Los Angeles’ third title under his watch.
Mattingly’s inclusion gives the Phillies a visible presence in the NL dugout beyond the club’s players, athletic training staff and clubhouse personnel. Paul Buchheit of the Phillies will serve as one of the National League athletic trainers, Morgan Gregory will handle strength and conditioning duties for the NL, and Phil Sheridan will serve as the NL clubhouse manager.
Kevin Steinhour of the Phillies will serve as the American League clubhouse manager.
Mattingly’s All-Star history stretches across several phases of his career. As a player, he was one of the defining first basemen of his generation, earning six All-Star selections during a 14-year career with the Yankees. As a coach, he worked on Bruce Bochy’s National League staff in 2015 in Cincinnati and Joe Maddon’s NL staff in 2017 in Miami.
His 2026 assignment comes one year after he served as bench coach for John Schneider’s American League champion Toronto Blue Jays. Schneider will manage the AL team this summer and will be joined by Twins manager Derek Shelton.
For Philadelphia, the announcement is another marker that All-Star Week is no longer a distant date on the baseball calendar. It is moving closer by the day.
The week will include the HBCU Swingman Classic on July 10, the MLB Draft on July 11 and 12, the Futures Game and MLBx: All-Star 3-on-3 on July 12, the Home Run Derby on July 13 and the 96th Midsummer Classic on July 14 at Citizens Bank Park.
And when the National League gathers that night, Mattingly will be there in Phillies colors, representing the host club in a season that has already taken him from a dugout transition to one of baseball’s biggest stages.
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