The Philadelphia Phillies had to make a drastic change towards the start of the 2026 MLB season as they fell to 10 games below .500. In the end, it was manager Rob Thomson who got the axe — with Don Mattingly having to step into the interim role. The Phillies proceeded to rally with Mattingly at the helm, finishing with 88 wins on the season and clinching a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season.
From 9-19 with Thomson as the manager, the Phillies went 79-55 with Mattingly as the lead guy in the locker room. That is a noteworthy improvement that makes Mattingly a legitimate candidate for the full-time job in 2027 even though Philly's 2026 campaign came to an end on Thursday after suffering a 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of their Wild Card series.
Still, considering that the Phillies are still reeling from the heartbreak of seeing their World Series hopes get dashed once more, Mattingly is not willing to discuss yet the possibility of him staying on as the full-time manager.
“It’s not the time to talk about,” Mattingly said, per Curt Weiler of Field Level Media.
Article Continues BelowIndeed, the Phillies are still processing the fact that they've now fallen short in five consecutive postseasons — finishing with progressively worse results since 2022.
In 2022, they lost in the World Series against the Houston Astros. In 2023, they came close to returning to the Fall Classic, only to fall short in the NLCS. And then in 2024 and 2025, they couldn't make it past the NLDS. Now, the Wild Card was as far as they went.
Mattingly did perform well in his interim managerial duties, but it's not quite clear if the Phillies would opt for a proven voice like his or if they would want to go with a younger manager. He could be a useful voice in the locker room, but they might need another figure to lead this team if they were to get over the hump considering that Mattingly does not have the best track record when it comes to the postseason.