10:19am: Nightengale now reports that the Phillies offered the job to Cora but the former Boston skipper passed, citing a desire to spend time with family. Cora’s deal with Boston paid him upwards of $7MM per season through 2027, so he’s well positioned financially to take some time away if that’s indeed his preference.
9:52am: The Phils have announced the news. Mattingly has been named interim manager for the remainder of the 2026 season. Third base coach Dusty Wathan receives a promotion to bench coach. Triple-A skipper Anthony Contreras was called up to the MLB staff to take over third base coaching duties.
9:47 am: There’s a major shakeup in Philadelphia. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phils have fired skipper Rob Thomson. Bench coach Don Mattingly is taking over as interim manager.
Philadelphia is the second struggling big-market team to make an early managerial change. The Red Sox dismissed Alex Cora and much of their coaching staff over the weekend. The Phillies didn’t overhaul the coaching staff to the same extent, but it’s a major change nonetheless. They’ll hope it’ll light a fire under an underperforming team that is out to a 9-19 start, tying them with the Mets at the bottom of the National League.
Given the timing of the dismissals, there’ll naturally be some speculation about Cora as a candidate for the Philadelphia position. Phils president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was leading the Red Sox’s front office when Boston first hired Cora in 2017. The Sox won the World Series a year later.
However, it’s perhaps notable that the Phillies specified Mattingly as their interim manager through season’s end. Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests the Phils are not planning to hire Cora or any other skipper in the short term. Mattingly has an even stronger family tie with the Philly front office. His son Preston is Philadelphia’s general manager, the #2 role in the front office underneath Dombrowski.
In any case, the Phillies decided a change was needed given the disappointing first month. It ends Thomson’s three-plus year run leading the club, one that was highly successful overall. Thomson was initially hired on an interim basis when the Phils dismissed Joe Girardi in June 2022.
He took over a team that was seven games below .500 and 12 back in the NL East. They went 65-46 the rest of the way to snag the NL’s final playoff spot, then tore through the Senior Circuit playoff field to win the pennant. Even after they dropped a six-game World Series at the hands of the Astros, it was an easy call for the Phillies to commit to Thomson as the full-time skipper.
It’d be too simplistic to attribute the ’22 turnaround solely to the managerial change. The Phils dismissed Girardi because they had a talent roster that wasn’t performing to expectations, and some kind of improvement was probably inevitable either way. The Phillies’ regular season results continued to improve during Thomson’s three full seasons at the helm. They respectively won 90, 95, and 96 games between 2023-25. Philadelphia has won the NL East in each of the last two seasons and comfortably made the playoffs each year.
Despite the improved regular season output, their postseason performances have gone in the wrong direction. Philadelphia lost a seven-game NLCS to the Diamondbacks in 2023. They’ve been bounced in the Division Series (by the Mets and Dodgers, respectively) in each of the past two years. Philly’s front office has pointed to the unpredictability of short series in remaining committed to Thomson as manager. They signed him to an extension running through 2027 last December.
Things changed quickly. The Phillies couldn’t have started this year much more poorly. They’ve only won two series, and those came against the Nationals and Rockies. They’ve lost each of their past six series, including a 10-game losing streak that dropped them from .500 to 8-18 last week.
The issues have been up and down the roster. Cristopher Sánchez has been their only effective starting pitcher. The offense has scored 102 runs, above only the Giants and Mets. They’re 29th in batting average and on-base percentage while ranking 17th in home runs. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh have been their only above-average hitters. They’ve gotten particularly poor starts from Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, while offseason signee Adolis García hasn’t provided much in right field.
More to come.
