Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly Selected As 2015 All-Star Game Coach

UPDATE (June 4, 10:35 a.m. PT): Major League Baseball formally announced Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price will be part of Bruce Bochy’s National League staff for the All-Star Game.

Additionally, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost named Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch and Seattle Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon to his American League staff.

As manager of the reigning National League and World Series champions San Francisco Giants, Bruce Bochy will manage the NL All-Stars in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. The Midsummer Classic will be played July 14 at the Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds.

While Bochy will lead the NL team, his coaching staff is also set to include Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and Reds manager Bryan Price, according to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle:

I hear the two NL All-Star coaches for the Cincinnati All-Star Game will be #reds Bryan Price and #dodgers Don Mattingly.

— John Shea (@JohnSheaHey) May 17, 2015

While Mattingly will not have the luxury to sit back and relax during the All-Star break, he is glad to be participating, via Bill Shaikin of the LA Times:

It’s always an honor,” Mattingly said Sunday. “Four days off is always really nice, but this a big part of our game. I don’t think you can pass it up.”

Mattingly was named to six All-Star teams as a player and coached with Joe Torre’s staff in 2004. Price’s inclusion was largely a foregone conclusion as it’s customary for the hosting team’s manager to be included. Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost will be at the helm of the American League All-Stars and his coaching staff is not yet known.

The Dodgers enter play Monday trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by one game for the best record in the NL and all of baseball. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny led the NL team last season and caused a stir when he tapped Adam Wainwright as the All-Star Game starter ahead of Clayton Kershaw.

Bochy may face a similar predicament this year with Bartolo Colon, Zack Greinke and James Shields among the multiple pitchers doing well thus far. Of his career accomplishments, Kershaw has never started an All-Star Game.

Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez started last year for the AL team and he currently leads the league with six wins, and is near the top in ERA (2.30), WHIP (0.95) and strikeouts (55). The AL has won the last two All-Star Games and seven of the last 10.

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