Major news out of Philadelphia — and it’s a stunning fall for a manager who not long ago was the toast of the National League.
The Phillies have fired Rob Thomson — just 28 games into the season, with Philadelphia sitting at a nine-and-nineteen record — tied for the worst mark in all of baseball — and carrying the sport’s worst run differential at minus fifty-four. The team had just endured a ten-game losing streak — their longest since nineteen-ninety-nine.
Stepping in as interim manager through the end of the 2026 season is Don Mattingly — the iconic former New York Yankee great — who had been serving as the team’s bench coach. Mattingly previously managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for five seasons and the Miami Marlins for seven.
And here’s the storyline worth noting — Don’s son Preston Mattingly is Philadelphia’s General Manager — the number two in baseball operations under President Dave Dombrowski. So, it is — quite literally — a family affair in the Phillies dugout.
Thomson’s tenure was otherwise highly successful — taking the Phillies from seven games below .500 in 2022 all the way to the World Series — but this year’s nine-and-nineteen start simply ran out of road.
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