Phillies fire Rob Thomson after disastrous 9-19 start

And there it is. The Phillies announced they have fired manager Rob Thomson after the team’s brutal stretch to open the 2026 season. Don Mattingly will take over as interim manager and is tasked with pulling the Fightins out of the basement of the NL.

The Phillies announced Rob Thomson’s departure on Tuesday morning:

The Phillies have relieved Rob Thomson of his duties as manager. pic.twitter.com/Jp523BrbV5

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 28, 2026

It’s not like I hate the move, but this season is pretty much entirely Sleepy Dave Dombrowski’s fault. He took a look at a roster with obvious weaknesses and decided to address exactly zero of them.

Even so, when a team’s payroll is this high, results are expected. Something had to give, and Topper was first in line for the chopping block.

Philadelphia fans are no strangers to the mid-season coaching change. Joe Girardi was dismissed on June 3, 2022, with a 22-29 record. Thomson took over, led the team to the postseason, and then straight to the World Series.

Since then, however, Thomson’s teams have not made a return to the Fall Classic, and a 9-19 start was too much for ownership to bear. Do I expect Mattingly to come in and take this team to a World Series? Not really. But this could be the kind of extreme wakeup call the players need to turn this into a respectable season.

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