ATLANTA — The Philadelphia Phillies saw their season end with a 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series on Thursday night at Truist Park, leaving interim manager Don Mattingly's future uncertain. Mattingly said this summer he hoped to be back as Phillies manager in 2027, but that outcome now appears less likely after the elimination.
“It's not the time to talk about anything like that,” Mattingly said after the game. “I'm not concerned about myself in this situation. I want the Phillies to do what they need to do to set themselves up for success. Yeah, I'm not really -- it's like, my stuff doesn't really matter.” Mattingly said he has had no conversations with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski about his future, adding, “Haven’t worried about it. Just trying to win games, honestly, and put us in the best spot to win games and move forward from there.”
Dombrowski first offered the interim job to Alex Cora on April 26, nearly 48 hours before he dismissed manager Rob Thomson following a 9-19 start. Cora had called Dombrowski just hours after the Red Sox fired him on April 25, and declined the offer the following morning. The two won a World Series together with the 2018 Red Sox and remain close. “I think Alex Cora is one of the finest managers in the game of baseball,” Dombrowski said on April 28, when he announced Mattingly as interim manager. “I've been fortunate enough to work with Hall of Fame managers like Tony La Russa and Jim Leyland. Have been very fortunate in my career. I think if Alex Cora decides to manage, he has a chance to be in that same category.” As long as Cora is available and Dombrowski hasn't removed Mattingly's interim tag, the expectation remains that Dombrowski will try to bring Cora aboard.
Under Mattingly, the Phillies posted the fourth-best record in baseball from the time he replaced Thomson, despite an offense that ranked 19th in runs (713) and a bullpen that ranked 21st in ERA (4.43). After a rough September, Philadelphia clinched the third NL Wild Card spot on the final day of the regular season, a turnaround likely to earn Mattingly NL Manager of the Year votes. Bryce Harper declined to discuss Mattingly's future, saying, “I don’t want to answer that question,” but teammates were vocal. “I felt like he did a great job for us when we were in that tough spot,” Kyle Schwarber said, “and the way that he was able to get us to turn that page from a really hard time where you lose a guy -- you lost our manager who brought us to a lot of important games -- and I felt like his demeanor was great for us.” J.T. Realmuto added, “Donnie was great,” and said, “Are you serious with that question? Of course. I mean, it's not for me to decide, obviously, but yeah, we love Donnie. We played well for him. He's a great manager.”
Mattingly signed a two-year contract to be the Phillies' bench coach before this season and said he hopes to remain involved in baseball next year. “I love the game,” he said. “I loved being in Philly this year. I actually like playing in that environment. I like the environment. It's a rough environment, but it's good. Again, I think you let the organization evaluate, talk about what they think moving forward, what they should do, and that dictates a lot of different things.” The elimination closed a series that was set up as a decisive Wild Card Game 3 in Atlanta.