Dusty Wathan reportedly looking to follow in father’s footsteps as KC Royals’ manager

The Kansas City Royals’ managerial search reportedly includes at least one legacy candidate with strong ties to the franchise.

Dusty Wathan, who wore a Royals uniform exclusively during his brief stint in the majors, was set to interview for the club’s vacant managerial post Thursday, according to a report by NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury.

Wathan’s father, John, was a longtime Royals player, manager and player development official who retired at the end of this season after 51 years in professional baseball, including 47 with the Royals.

His sister, Dina, works in the Royals’ community impact department

Dusty Wathan, 49, is a 1991 Blue Springs High School graduate. After attending Cerritos College in California, he spent 14 seasons in pro ball, primarily in the minor leagues.

He played for the Seattle Mariners, Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Royals, Cleveland Indians and Phillies organizations during his pro career. He appeared in more than 1,000 games in the minors.

He made his major-league debut for the Royals on September 24, 2002, and played in three big-league games. He went 3 for 5 with an RBI.

Wathan currently serves as the third base coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, who are playing the San Diego Padres in the National League Championship Series for a berth in the World Series. Thursday was an off-day for the NLCS; that series is tied 1-1 and was scheduled to resume Friday afternoon in Philly.

This season marks Wathan’s fifth with the Phillies’ major-league coaching staff after 10 seasons as a manager with their Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A clubs, as well as a managerial stint in the Arizona Fall League.

Wathan’s managerial accomplishments in the minors included being the all-time winningest manager (373-335, .527) in the history of the Double-A Reading franchise; back-to-back Eastern League Manager of the Year honors; and back-to-back Eastern Division titles in 2015-16.

He also led Triple-A Lehigh Valley to a playoff appearance in his only season managing that club (2017).

Earlier this summer, Wathan received a warm endorsement as a big-league managerial candidate from Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who was a Kansas Jayhawks baseball standout in the 1980s.

“This guy’s a fantastic baseball mind, and I hope that, when jobs come up, managers jobs come up, he’s on the tip of every general manager’s tongue,” Thomson said in June.

“I really do. Because he’s that type of baseball mind, as far as I’m concerned.”