After a 9-19 start to the season and a softer schedule coming up, the Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson and promoted Don Mattingly to the interim position.
In addition, the Phillies made some other moves to the coaching staff. Dusty Wathan is now the bench coach and AAA manager Anthony Contreras was promoted to Phillies third base coach.
Rob Thomson’s manager tenure ends as one of the most successful in Phillies history. Among managers with at least 3 seasons, Thomson’s .568 winning percentage ranks at the top. In 5 seasons, three of them being full seasons, his 355 wins ranks tenth.
From the time Thomson took over, all the Phillies did was win. He inherited a 22-29 club in 2022 that sneaked into the playoffs and eventually made the World Series. They won 90 games the following season and reached Game 7 of the NLCS. In 2024 and 25, Thomson led the club to back-to-back division titles for the first time since 2010-11.
According to the Phillies press release, Don Mattingly was promoted to interim manager through the end of the 2026 season. Mattingly spent twelve seasons as manager with two different organizations, five with the Dodgers, and seven more with the Marlins.
With the Dodgers, Mattingly oversaw a team that increased it’s win total for four straight seasons along with three straight division titles but was let go in 2015 after they lost to the New York Mets in a five-game NLDS series.
Mattingly was immediately hired by the Miami Marlins to but could not replicate the same success. The only winning season he had was back in 2020, when the Marlins went 31-29 in a shortened 60 game season and even won their wild card series against the Chicago Cubs.
Across all twelve seasons, Mattingly finished with a record of 889-950 with two playoff series wins in four attempts.
