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Phillies Announce Six 2020 Spring Training Guest Instructors

By Matt Rappa

LAKELAND, FL - MARCH 09: Ryan Howard #6 (L) Charlie Manuel #41 and Jimmy Rollins #11 of the Philadelphia Phillies walk to the dugout before the spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 9, 2011 in Lakeland, Florida. The Phillies defeated the Tigers 5-3. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
LAKELAND, FL - MARCH 09: Ryan Howard #6 (L) Charlie Manuel #41 and Jimmy Rollins #11 of the Philadelphia Phillies walk to the dugout before the spring training game against the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium on March 9, 2011 in Lakeland, Florida. The Phillies defeated the Tigers 5-3. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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The Phillies have announced six guest instructors, including three former managers, to assist the team this spring training under new manager Joe Girardi.

Six Philadelphia Phillies alumni will be supporting new manager Joe Girardi this spring training.

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On Friday, the organization announced the cohort of guest instructors, consisting of three former managers of the team, members of both World Champion teams in 1980 and 2008, as well as the 1993 National League championship:

  • Ryan Howard,
  • Brad Lidge,
  • Pete Mackanin,
  • Dan Plesac,
  • As well as current front office personnel, former managers, and Wall of Fame members, Larry Bowa and Charlie Manuel.

Howard enters his first coaching role, after turning down a multi-year contract to return to ESPN for the 2021 season as an analyst. The 2006 National League MVP will wear Phillies red for the first time since his final game with the club in 2016. His retirement did not come until after the 2017 season, however, playing in a combined 27 games for the Triple-A affiliates of the Colorado Rockies and Atlanta Braves that year.

Lidge returns for the fourth straight year as a Phillies spring training instructor (2017-20), and the fifth time overall (2014). Perhaps Lidge can offer some closing advice to recent non-roster invitee signees Bud Norris and Drew Storen, who have had recent success in the late-inning relief role.

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Mackanin, Bowa and Manuel rich serve as assistants to Phillies general manager Matt Klentak, and it will be an interesting dynamic to see two World Series champion managers in the team’s dugout at once this spring, (Manuel, 2008; Girardi, 2009).

Plesac returns for the third straight spring (2018-20), and fourth overall (2015), as a Phillies spring training guest instructor.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to hold their first workout on February 11, followed by the first full-squad workout on February 17. The season is slated to begin two months from this Sunday – March 26 away against the Miami Marlins.

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