Don Mattingly, the legendary New York Yankees star known as Donnie Baseball, has returned to managing in Major League Baseball. Just 28 games into his first season since leaving the Toronto Blue Jays as bench coach, Mattingly has taken over as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, who fired Canadian Rob Thomson on Tuesday.
Phillies' Struggles Lead to Change
With the Phillies off to a horrendous start, Thomson's job was rumored to be in jeopardy. The team holds a 9-19 record, sharing the basement of the NL East with the woeful New York Mets, and has already endured a 10-game losing streak. As recently as five days ago, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski stated that Thomson's job was safe, but the team's continued struggles prompted a change.
Thomson, a native of Corunna, Ontario, took over the Phillies job from Joe Girardi in 2022. Over parts of five seasons, he compiled a record of 355-370. Despite the poor start to this season, Thomson led the Phillies to four consecutive postseason appearances, including the 2022 World Series. The 62-year-old baseball lifer also owns the best winning percentage in Phillies history at .568. He was under contract through the 2027 season.
Why Don Mattingly?
Mattingly's immediate hire is as the interim skipper, but he brings extensive managerial experience with two MLB franchises. He also has strong family ties in the Phillies front office, where his son, Preston, serves as general manager under Dombrowski. The opportunity to work with his son was a key factor in Mattingly's interest in the Phillies when he left the Blue Jays.
Mattingly's managerial career includes a stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2011 to 2015, where he guided the team to a 446-363 record. He then managed the Miami Marlins from 2016 to 2022, leaving with a record of 889-950. After stating he no longer wanted to manage, Mattingly joined the Blue Jays as bench coach under John Schneider and was instrumental in the team's run to the 2025 World Series.
Mattingly informed Schneider prior to last year's World Series that he planned to move on. Schneider recalled, "I think the way he put it, he said 'I've done everything that I can do for you and you don't need me. I'm good with how I'm going to leave this organization.'"
Rob Thomson's Canadian Legacy
An inductee of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, Thomson has long been proud of his roots in the game. He competed for the Canadian team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where baseball was a demonstration sport, and was soon after drafted by the Detroit Tigers. Though he never reached the big leagues as a player, Thomson switched to coaching in 1988 and climbed the ranks in the Yankees organization, eventually joining the big league coaching staff in 2004. He served primarily as a third base coach before being elevated to bench coach in 2015.
Following the 2017 season, Thomson was hired as bench coach by the Phillies and took over as manager partway through the 2022 campaign.
Thomson Joins Alex Cora on Fired List
Thomson's firing comes days after the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and several of his coaches. Cora, who led the Red Sox to a World Series title in 2018, saw his team struggle out of the gate into last place in the AL East. Interestingly, according to a report by USA Today's Bob Nightingale, Cora was offered the Phillies job but declined, citing a desire to spend time with his family. The Red Sox have won three in a row since Cora's dismissal, including a 5-0 shutout of the Blue Jays on Monday at the Rogers Centre.
