On October 7, Matt Gelb and Jayson Stark of The Athletic reported that the Philadelphia Phillies are considering bringing Don Mattingly back as manager for 2027 — exactly five days after a separate report had him essentially on his way out. The twist: Alex Cora, the organization’s top target, confirmed he won’t return to baseball next year. With Cora off the board, Mattingly is back in play.
From ‘gracefully dismissed’ to front-runner in five days
It started on April 28, 2026. The Phillies fired Rob Thomson after a 9-19 start and turned to Mattingly — hired that year as a bench coach — to take over on an interim basis. What followed surprised everyone: under Mattingly, Philadelphia went 79-55 (.590), the fourth-best record in MLB over that stretch, clinched a National League Wild Card spot on the final day of the regular season, and reached the postseason for the fifth straight year.
On October 2, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Mattingly would be «gracefully dismissed» within days, with the parting framed as mutual. Five days later, that’s no longer the only scenario on the table.
Gelb and Stark wrote that the Phillies could either run a broader managerial search or bring Mattingly back for another season. «Everything is still on the table,» sources told the reporters — and the same report noted that Mattingly «could have the edge» over outside candidates.
Cora said no, and Mattingly moved back to the front
Cora’s decision is the move that reshuffled the board. The former Red Sox manager — a two-time World Series champion and, by multiple accounts, Philadelphia’s genuine first choice — announced this week that he won’t be returning to active managing in 2027. With Cora out, the Phillies’ search gets more complicated, and Mattingly emerges as the cleanest option for a few reasons:
- He’s still under contract with the club through 2027 (originally as bench coach).
- He knows the roster and the coaching staff.
- His son, Preston Mattingly, has been the team’s general manager since November 2024.
That last point cuts both ways. The father-as-manager, son-as-GM dynamic has been flagged by local reporters as a potential source of internal friction, though there’s no confirmation that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski views it as a dealbreaker.
The calendar adds pressure too. An owner-imposed lockout is expected to begin December 1, 2026 — leaving less than two months to hire an outside candidate, get them up to speed, and start planning for next season. For Mattingly, who already knows the system, that timeline is far less daunting.
What the numbers say — for and against
The case for Mattingly is built on real production: a 79-55 interim record, a Wild Card berth, and a turnaround from near-certain elimination. The case against him has numbers too: Philadelphia’s offense ranked 19th in runs scored with 713, and the bullpen finished 21st in ERA at 4.43, a figure that worsened down the stretch.
The Phillies closed the full season at 88-74 (.543) and were swept by the Atlanta Braves in three games in the Wild Card Series. In the postseason, the decision to use Zack Wheeler in the final regular-season game to lock up the Wild Card spot left the rotation thin when it mattered most — though pinning the elimination entirely on that call would be an oversimplification of a three-game series with plenty of moving parts.
Mattingly’s all-time managerial record in MLB stands at 945-989 (.489), with previous stops at the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011–2015) and Miami Marlins (2016–2022). A full second season in Philadelphia — if it happens — would be the first time in his career he’s managed the same playoff-caliber team in back-to-back years.
The Phillies have until late November to decide whether that’s worth betting on.
