For the 13th season of his career and his first since leaving the Miami Marlins in 2022 Don Mattingly is back in the dugout as a Major League Baseball manager. The Philadelphia Phillies decided that Rob Thomson’s tenure had reached its end. The man who saved the franchise in 2022 couldn’t guide an experienced roster out of an early-season slump, so the team is turning to a more seasoned leader to right the ship.
But here’s the catch: Mattingly isn’t managing to keep the job. This is, in every practical sense, a short-term role that will almost surely conclude after the 2026 season. That shouldn’t surprise any Phillies fan who has followed the team closely since Mattingly was hired in January. The 65-year-old admitted during spring training that he never expected to manage again. It’s rare to see an interim manager labeled a “lame duck,” yet here we are. Welcome to Phillies baseball in 2026.
Phillies playing with nothing to lose under veteran manager Don Mattingly
It’s a sign of the organization’s struggles that we’re already in “house money” territory before April ends, but with Thomson gone, that’s the reality. Unlike in 2022, there’s no long-term job to play for; no matter how well the Phillies perform under Mattingly, the longtime coach and 1985 AL MVP likely won’t remain as manager beyond this season. Given that Mattingly wasn’t even the front office’s first choice for the interim role Alex Cora turned it down to be with his family it’s clear neither side sees this as a lasting partnership. So, the rest of the year becomes about evaluating the roster, with major changes to the coaching staff coming next offseason.
Of course, we can’t completely dismiss the chance that the Phillies respond well to an in-season manager change for the second time in five years. Thomson took over a team seven games under .500 and led them to the World Series; can Mattingly do the same with a 9-19 squad? If the answer miraculously turns out to be yes, maybe the Phillies and Mattingly will consider extending this unusual arrangement (his son, Preston Mattingly, is the general manager). For what it’s worth, the post-Thomson era started well, with a 7-0 shutout of the San Francisco Giants giving Mattingly his first win in Philadelphia.
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