Don Mattingly clears the air after sudden change of heart on managing

Months after he said he had no desire to be a manager in the big leagues again, Don Mattingly is back in that very role. 

The Philadelphia Phillies made him the club’s interim manager on Tuesday after they fired Rob Thomson following a brutal 9-19 start to the 2026 MLB season. 

It wasn’t a job Mattingly was after when he was hired by the Phillies in January to be a bench coach, but he implied after Tuesday’s 7-0 win over the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pa., that he said that partly to avoid sparking drama.

“I’ve always felt good. Been pretty healthy. I feel like I have energy, but I did want to say that from the standpoint of [Thomson’s] here,” Mattingly told reporters, via Dave Uram of SportsRadio 94WIP. ” I didn’t want anyone feeling like I was here to do something like this, so I really wanted to leave it like that.”

With Thomson gone, Mattingly does not have to worry as much about stepping on anyone else’s toes.

He is also off to a good start in his new role, with the Phillies beating the Giants in a home series opener.

Mattingly, who just turned 65 years old on April 20, managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to 2015 before serving the same role for the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022.