The Philadelphia Phillies dismissed manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday morning amid a disappointing 9-19 start to the season. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski named bench coach Don Mattingly as interim manager after Alex Cora declined the offer. Players including Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto took accountability for the team's struggles.
Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski called Rob Thomson early Tuesday and informed him of his dismissal at Citizens Bank Park. The move came after the Phillies snapped a 10-game losing streak Sunday in Atlanta but entered the day with a 9-19 record despite a payroll exceeding $300 million. Thomson leaves with the highest winning percentage (.568) of any full-time Phillies manager since 1900 and guided the team to four consecutive postseasons, including the 2022 World Series and back-to-back NL East titles in 2024 and 2025. Dombrowski said, “This isn’t a blame game... Just the way things were going, they’re not going well enough. I don’t think we’re playing up to our capabilities. I think we’re a much better club than we played.” He had consulted top advisors over the weekend and met with the front office Monday before deciding on the change, similar to firing Joe Girardi in 2022 and promoting Thomson successfully then. Dombrowski first approached former Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Sunday morning, hours after Cora's firing Saturday, but Cora chose family time, prioritizing his 8-year-old twin sons. “I think Alex Cora is one of the finest managers in the game of baseball,” Dombrowski said. Mattingly, whose son Preston is the Phillies' GM, kept Thomson's coaching staff intact, calling hitting coach Kevin Long “one of the best hitting coaches in baseball.” He promoted Dusty Wathan to bench coach and Anthony Contreras to third-base coach. Bryce Harper said, “As players, we're the ones that kind of make those decisions happen... he took the fall today.” J.T. Realmuto added, “It sucks that the players are the ones not playing well, and somebody else has to lose their job for it.” The Phillies rank near the bottom in key offensive and pitching stats, with Dombrowski expressing confidence in the roster's talent to rebound.
