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The Philadelphia Phillies announced they fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday after a rough 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 so 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 assume third-base coaching duties.
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Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks to 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 prior to the 2018 season. He was named as 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 went all the way to the World Series before losing to the Houston Astros. He was named the full-time manager during the Phillies’ pennant run.
He guided the Phillies to the playoffs in each of the last three seasons as well, winning the National League East twice. Across five seasons, Thomson went 355-270 with the Phillies.
Despite the strong record from his prior three and a half seasons on the job, it wasn’t enough to save Thomson following the team’s dreadful start.
The Phillies are the second team to fire their manager, as the Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora on Saturday.
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Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson looks to 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 their bench coach in January after the 65-year-old stepped away from the Toronto Blue Jays last season after being the team’s bench coach for three seasons.
Mattingly’s son, Preston, is the Phillies vice president and general manager.
Mattingly has 12 years of managerial experience, 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 889-950 total record. He has spent each of the last 23 seasons on a major league staff.
Before his coaching career, Mattingly starred with the New York Yankees. Mattingly played 14 seasons, all with the Yankees, winning the 1985 AL MVP 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 No. 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.
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