Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly made it clear Thursday that he’s open to staying on beyond this season.
Talking to reporters after ESPN reported his interest on Wednesday, Mattingly confirmed the possibility.
“I like doing it,” Mattingly said. “I didn’t come here to do it, but I actually like doing it. I committed to two years, right? And, in my mind, I told Dave (Dombrowski, Phillies president of baseball operations), ‘I’d go two years.’ Right? So at that point you make a commitment with your family and what’s going on with everything that you’re going to do this for two years. So if that’s something that Dave wanted me to do then I’m fine with it.”
Mattingly, hired as the Phillies’ bench coach after previous managerial stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011-15) and Miami Marlins (2016-22), has supervised a strong resurgence in Philadelphia.
The Phillies were 10.5 games back in the National League East when Mattingly was inserted as the interim after Rob Thomson was fired on April 28. They are 42-23 under Mattingly’s watch and have cut that deficit to three games behind the Braves in the NL East entering Thursday’s action.
The American League MVP in 1985, Mattingly was a career .307 hitter with 222 homers and 1,099 RBIs over 1,785 games across 14 seasons with the New York Yankees (1982-95).
Mattingly was named NL Manager of the Year in 2020 with Miami. He has a 931-973 regular-season record and a 10-14 playoff record as a coach, leading the Dodgers to the 2013 NLCS and three other NLDS appearances.
Mattingly’s son, Preston, has been the Phillies’ general manager since 2024, working under Dombrowski.
