In less than 20 days, the Philadelphia Phillies have turned around the 2026 season.
On April 28th, the Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson and replaced him with bench coach Don Mattingly on an interim basis.
Mattingly, of course, previously managed both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins and then served two seasons as the Toronto Blue Jays bench coach before joining the Phillies this season.
At the time, the Phillies were 9-19 which was tied for the worst record in MLB along with the New York Mets, their NL East rival.
Under Mattingly, the Phillies have gone 15-4 including a 6-0 victory this afternoon over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Zack Wheeler pitched 7 scoreless innings besting reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes.
As a result, the Phillies now have a winning record of 24-23.
Now the Phillies still have their work cut out for them. They are 8 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, but they are now in the NL Wild Card hunt tied with the Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at 3½ games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the third NL Wild Card berth.
The 2026 season is not yet a third of the way through, but Mattingly has to be considered an early favorite to be NL Manager of the Year. If nothing else, Donnie Baseball has righted the Phillies ship this season.
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