July 10, 2026
Aaron Doster/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Don Mattingly is now open to managing beyond 2025 after saying months agi that he probably didn't want to manage again.
Not long ago, Don Mattingly said he didn't want to be a manager again.
At Clearwater in the spring, Mattingly, who left his bench coach job with the Blue Jays to take the same post with the Phillies, said he was fairly certain he was done being a manager.
The Yankees legend had already managed the Dodgers for five seasons and the Marlins for seven more before taking a backseat in Toronto. The time demands of the job – the hours of preparation leading up to every game, the countless post-game press conferences to explain every move, the offseasons of free agency and meetings – were all reasons Mattingly cited during an interview with WIP for a diminished desire to be the head skipper again.
"I don't think I have the energy for that, honestly," he told WIP.
Months later, doing the job he was almost positive he didn't want to do again, Mattingly is now singing a much different tune.
In fact, with the Phillies continuing their resurgence since he replaced the fired Rob Thomson on April 28 with the team at 9-19, Mattingly hasn't just changed his stance, he's done a complete about-face.
Asked on Wednesday prior to the Phillies starting a three-game series against the Reds in Cincinnati if he would be open to managing beyond 2025, Mattingly full-on threw his hat into the ring.
"Oh, I would do it," he told the surrounding reporters from the opposing dugout (h/t NBC Sports Philadelphia):
"Oh, I would do it." 👀
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 8, 2026
Don Mattingly would welcome the opportunity to manage the Phillies beyond this season. pic.twitter.com/4XvPhTTt5z
Mattingly said he had already committed himself to two years with the Phillies when he signed, a move that united him with his son, Preston, who had recently been promoted to general manager under President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski.
Now, apparently, he's willing to manage the Phillies beyond 2026.
After making those comments, Mattingly and the Phillies went and took two from the Reds, with a major managerial decision leading to the decisive run in Thursday night's 2-1 win that swung the series to Philly.
His decision to pinch-run Derek Hill for Gabriel Rincones Jr. in the eighth inning of a 1-1 game looked brilliant when Hill scored from second on Justin Crawford's one-out single, which proved to be the game-winner after closer Jhoan Duran slammed the doors on the Reds in the ninth.
Maybe it was an obvious move, but it's the smaller decisions and strategies that've meant the difference for the Phillies since Mattingly took over. The Phillies are an MLB-best 43-23 since Donnie Baseball became interim manager, despite a batting order that's still inconsistent after the top four, a middle relief crew that has struggled all season, and without a true fifth starter for about four weeks since Andrew Painter's demotion to Triple-A.
As the Phillies begin a three-game series Friday night against the Tigers, Mattingly's winning percentage this season is .652 – which would be the highest of his career if it stands. From 2013 to 2015 with the Dodgers, he never won fewer than 92 games and his lowest win percentage in that span was .568, twice. He's even crushing that.
But only one of those Dodgers teams actually made it to the NLCS, the other two losing in the divisional round, and none went to the World Series.
Despite Mattingly's rekindled desire to manage, a job that should seemingly be handed to him next year isn't a sure thing.
The turnaround is a major pro-Mattingly argument, but the Phillies were already two-time defending NL East champs headed into this season and shouldn't have been 9-19 to begin with.
Also, a recent report from MLB Insider Bob Nightengale suggested that Dombrowski still has eyes on former Red Sox manager Alex Cora, a World Series champion who was fired by the Sox earlier this season.
After naming Mattingly interim manager, Dombrowski admitted that he first inquired with Cora, who told Dombrowski he wanted to spend the rest of his summer with his family.
Dombrowski was in charge of the Red Sox in 2018 when he hired Cora to be the manager. The Sox won the World Series that year, and Nightengale recently reported that Cora is considered the favorite to land the job in 2026, with the Mets also in the mix.
That doesn't mean Mattingly can't still convince Phillies brass that he deserves to have the interim tag removed after this season.
In the words of the great (and fictional) Jake Taylor from "Major League," I guess there's only one thing left to do ...
That would surely mean Mattingly would be the head man in 2026.
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