Phillies To Keep Don Mattingly As Manager

The Phillies are expected to remove the “interim” tag from Don Mattingly and retain him as full-time manager, report Matt Gelb and Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic. The move is expected to be finalized later this week.

Mattingly relieved Rob Thomson near the end of April. Philadelphia was 10 games under .500 when the club parted with Thomson. Mattingly led the team to a Wild Card berth. The Phillies went 79-55 after he took over.

There were rumblings last week that Mattingly could stick as manager after the Phillies were denied again by Alex Cora. He’d been their first choice to replace Thomson after being fired by the Red Sox in April. Cora said no at the time and maintained that he didn’t want the gig when pursued after the season ended.

Mattingly was going to be with the Phillies in some fashion for 2027. He signed a two-year deal to be the bench coach heading into this season. Gelb and colleague Jayson Stark had previously reported that Mattingly could move to a front-office advisor position if he wasn’t given the manager gig. He’d be working closely with his son, Preston, who has been the Phillies general manager since 2024.

Handing Mattingly the full-time job seemed like a layup heading into the final week of the regular season. The Phillies weren’t going to catch the Braves in the NL East, but they were cruising to a Wild Card spot. It was just a matter of how the seeding would shake out with the Cubs and Padres. Then things got interesting. With the clinch in reach, Philly lost four straight games. A hot streak from the Diamondbacks forced the Phillies into a must-win situation in the final game of the season. They were able to beat the Rays and earn the final Wild Card bid.

While the Phillies avoided a major collapse, their rotation was affected in the playoffs. Zack Wheeler was forced to start Game 162, which meant he wasn’t available in the first game of the Wild Card round. Wheeler didn’t start any of the three games against the Braves. He came in relief in Game 3 with Philly already losing 3-0.

The early playoff exit ultimately didn’t cost Mattingly a shot at the head job. With changes likely coming for the roster, some stability at the top makes sense. Mattingly has a dozen seasons of managerial experience on his resume. He was at the helm for the Dodgers from 2011 through 2015. Mattingly spent seven seasons leading the Marlins, a stint that included NL Manager of the Year honors in 2020.