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The Philadelphia Phillies announced Tuesday that they have fired manager Rob Thomson after a difficult start to the season.
The Phillies are off to a 9-19 start to the season, tied with the New York Mets for the worst record in baseball thus far.
The team announced that bench coach Don Mattingly will become the interim manager. The team is promoting third base coach Dusty Wathan to bench coach and promoting Triple-A Lehigh Valley manager Anthony Contreras to the big league staff, where he will serve as third base coach.
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Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks on the field before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Illinois on April 20, 2026. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)
The Phillies hired Thomson as the team’s bench coach before the 2018 season. He was named the team’s interim manager on June 3, 2022, after the Phillies fired Joe Girardi.
After Thomson took over in 2022, the team went 65-46 and made it all the way to the World Series before losing to the Houston Astros. He was named full-time manager during the Phillies’ pennant run.
He also guided the Phillies to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, winning the National League East twice. In five seasons, Thomson was 355-270 with the Phillies.
Despite the strong record of his previous three and a half seasons on the job, it wasn’t enough to save Thomson after the team’s dire start.
The Phillies are the second team to fire their manager, with the Boston Red Sox firing Alex Cora on Saturday.
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Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks on the field before a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Chicago, Illinois on April 20, 2026. (Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo)
The Phillies hired Mattingly as bench coach in January after the 65-year-old left the Toronto Blue Jays last season after serving as the team’s bench coach for three seasons.
Mattingly’s son, Preston, is vice president and general manager of the Phillies.
Mattingly has 12 years of management experience, including five with the Los Angeles Dodgers and seven with the Miami Marlins. Mattingly went 446-363 with the Dodgers and 443-587 with the Marlins, for an overall record of 889-950. He has spent each of the last 23 seasons with a major league team.
Prior to his coaching career, Mattingly played with the New York Yankees. Mattingly played 14 seasons, all with the Yankees, winning the AL MVP in 1985 and being named an All-Star six times.
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Philadelphia Phillies bench coach Don Mattingly stands in the dugout during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park in Cumberland, Georgia on April 26, 2026. (Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)
The Yankees retired his number 23 and Mattingly has a plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
Mattingly began his coaching career with the Yankees in 2004 as the team’s hitting coach.
Mattingly’s first game as the team’s manager will be against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. ET.
