Former Dodgers Manager Takes Over Phillies After Sudden Rob Thomson Firing

Don Mattingly wasn't the Philadelphia Phillies' first choice to take over for Rob Thomson after the manager was suddenly fired on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager is back in a familiar seat one month into his first season in Philadelphia.

Mattingly, 65, was announced as the Phillies' interim manager. He was promoted to the role from bench coach, the same role he held last season with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Phillies have relieved Rob Thomson of his duties as manager. pic.twitter.com/Jp523BrbV5
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 28, 2026

It's the second managerial job for Mattingly since his final season in Los Angeles in 2015. He managed the Miami Marlins from 2016-22 before taking the Toronto job in 2023.

The Dodgers promoted Mattingly from hitting coach to succeed Joe Torre in 2011. Over the next five seasons, he led the Dodgers to a 446-363 record, a .551 winning percentage.

Mattingly guided the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series in 2013, and to the NL Division Series each of the next two seasons. He and the Dodgers agreed to mutually part ways after the 2015 season. Dave Roberts was hired following that season and the Dodgers haven't looked back since.

In seven seasons in Miami, Mattingly failed to replicate his success in Los Angeles. His Marlins teams reached the postseason once, in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He was named NL Manager of the Year after the season.

Funny enough, Mattingly said in June 2025 — on a Phillies podcast, no less — that he had closed the door on ever managing again.

"I think the managing side of things is over for me," Mattingly told the Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber last year. "I think the older you get, the less you enjoy the role, the travel, the busses, and the hotels. I still love the ballpark and the field. But it's getting tougher for me to say in a full-time role to have the time, and feel like I have the energy to do it at the manager level. That's a whole different level."

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Phillies turned first to recently fired Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora to gauge his interest in taking over for Thomson.

Cora turned the job down, according to multiple reports Tuesday, citing the desire to spend more time with his family.

Now, Mattingly will get his chance to return to the World Series for a second straight year, in his 13th season as a manager.

Coincidentally, he'll be working for his son.

Preston Mattingly was promoted to the Phillies' assistant general manager after serving as the team's farm director from 2021-23. In November 2024, Mattingly took over as GM when Sam Fuld became the Phillies' president of business operations.

This isn't the first time the Mattinglys have worked together.

The Dodgers selected Preston Mattingly in the first round (31st overall) in the 2006 MLB Draft. He played in the Dodgers' farm system for five seasons (2006-10); Don Mattingly was the Dodgers' hitting coach for the final three years of Preston's time in the organization.

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