The Phillies have parted ways with manager Rob Thomson after their worst start in nearly two decades.
Bench coach Don Mattingly, a seasoned veteran who previously managed the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011–2015 and the Miami Marlins from 2016–2022, will serve as Philadelphia’s interim manager for the remainder of the season.
The decision comes after weeks of uneven play, mounting losses, and a growing sense that something needed to change. Philadelphia has struggled to find consistency on both sides of the ball, and despite flashes of promise here and there, the results simply have not followed. With the club sitting well below expectations early in the year, the organization ultimately chose to act.
The Phillies, at 9–19 and having lost 11 of their last 12 games, are tied with the New York Mets entering Tuesday’s game for the worst record in the league. Offensively, the team has been a mess. Their .219 batting average is second-worst in MLB, and their 102 runs scored are the third-fewest in the league. The pitching has not been much better. The Phillies own the third-worst ERA in baseball at 5.13. All of this has come despite a $315 million payroll for the 2026 season.
No one could have imagined when the season began that Thomson would be out of a job, let alone before the end of April. That reality is even more surprising considering he led the Phillies to the postseason in each of the past four years, including a World Series appearance in 2022 and trips to the NLCS in 2023 and the NLDS in 2024 and ’25. His overall record with the organization was 355–270.
Thomson began his tenure as manager in Philadelphia in the middle of the 2022 season after replacing Joe Girardi, for whom he had served as bench coach.
Thomson’s era in Philadelphia has officially come to an end.
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