The Philadelphia Phillies have fired manager Rob Thomson and replaced him with Yankees legend Don Mattingly after a disastrous start to the 2026 MLB season.
The Phillies have gone 9-19 to start the year and GM Preston Mattingly has made the bombshell decision to replace the outgoing coach with his own father Don.
Don, who was a six-time All-Star during a 15-year career with the Yankees, was hired as the bench coach for the Phillies at the start of the season but has now already been elevated to manager.
The news of Thomson’s firing was first reported by The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, and subsequent reports soon claimed that recently-fired Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora had turned down the Phillies role in order to spend more time with his family.
Preston Mattingly, 38, has been general manager of the Phillies since November 2024, and he reports to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who is also believed to have had a major say in the decision to fire Thomson.
Thomson, 62, had managed the club since June 2022, when he replaced Joe Girardi. He led the Phillies to their first World Series appearance since 2009, also securing four consecutive postseason appearances during his time in the dugout.
Rob Thomson is no longer the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies after being fired on Tuesday
Yankees legend Don Mattingly, previously bench coach, is taking interim charge of the team
Ahead of the 2026 campaign, the Phillies had been tipped by many to win a third straight NL East title, but have since endured a woeful first 28 games.
In fact, the team has the worst record in baseball (tied with the Mets) heading into Tuesday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, leading to Mattingly and Dombrowski wielding the axe.
The final straw for the Philadelphia front office came on Sunday in Atlanta, with the team losing 2-6 to the Braves to give up a sixth straight series.
Thomson finishes his tenure with an overall record of 355-270.
Don Mattingly has had two previous tilts at being a manager in Major League Baseball, first with the Los Angeles Dodgers between 2011 and 2015, and then with the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022.
In LA, he won three straight NL West titles but ended his tenure with an 8-11 record in the postseason, never getting beyond the NLCS.
With the Marlins, meanwhile, he managed the postseason once in seven seasons, losing at the first hurdle to Atlanta in a Covid-affected 2020 season.
