Don Mattingly is the Phillies “interim” manager no more, as the team announced today that he’ll shed that interim label and be named the new full-time skipper. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a press release that Mattingly has signed a two-year deal covering the 2027-28 seasons.
Mattingly relieved former manager Rob Thomson near the end of April. Philadelphia was 10 games under .500 when the club parted with Thomson. Mattingly led the team to a Wild Card berth. The Phillies went 79-55 after he took over.
There were rumblings last week that Mattingly could stick as manager after the Phillies were denied again by Alex Cora. He’d been their first choice to replace Thomson after being fired by the Red Sox in April. Cora said no at the time and maintained that he didn’t want the gig when pursued after the season ended. He’s reportedly not interested in managing at all next season and instead plans to take the downtime with his family.
Mattingly was going to be with the Phillies in some fashion for 2027. He signed a two-year deal to be the bench coach heading into this season. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Jayson Stark had previously reported that Mattingly could move to a front-office advisor position if he wasn’t given the manager gig. He’d be working closely with his son, Preston, who has been the Phillies’ general manager since 2024.
Handing Mattingly the full-time job seemed like a layup heading into the final week of the regular season. The Phillies weren’t going to catch the Braves in the NL East, but they were cruising to a Wild Card spot. It was just a matter of how the seeding would shake out with the Cubs and Padres. Then things got interesting. With the clinch in reach, Philly lost four straight games. A hot streak from the Diamondbacks forced the Phillies into a must-win situation in the final game of the season. They were able to beat the Rays and earn the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
However, while the Phillies avoided a major collapse, their rotation was affected in the playoffs. Zack Wheeler was forced to start Game 162, which meant he wasn’t available in the first game of the Wild Card round. Wheeler didn’t start any of the three games against the Braves. He came in relief in Game 3 with Philly already losing 3-0 after Aaron Nola was tagged for an early three-run homer.
The early playoff exit ultimately didn’t cost Mattingly a shot at the head job. With changes likely coming for the roster, some stability at the top makes sense. Mattingly has a dozen seasons of managerial experience on his resume. He was at the helm for the Dodgers from 2011 through 2015. Mattingly spent seven seasons leading the Marlins, a stint that included NL Manager of the Year honors in 2020. The 65-year-old Mattingly has a career 968-1005 record as a manager, though much of that losing record is attributable to the Marlins’ basement-level payrolls and frequent rebuilding status during his time in Miami.
Charlotte Varnes and Matt Gelb of The Athletic first reported that the Phillies would retain Mattingly as their permanent skipper.