Phillies bringing back Don Mattingly is a decision SF Giants and Dodgers know will backfire

The SF Giants aren’t getting rid of manager Tony Vitello this offseason, but there is still managerial movement around the rest of MLB. The Philadelphia Phillies have announced they will retain manager Don Mattingly after he served as interim manager following the firing of Rob Thomson which is a move both the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers know is most likely doomed to backfire.

Now, back in April when the Phillies fired Thomson and replaced him with Mattingly, I celebrated the move by invoking the occasional incompetence he displayed when he was the manager of the Dodgers.

In the short-term that proved to be a pretty bad take since Mattingly became manager right before a series between the Giants and Phillies in Philadelphia and San Francisco proceeded to get swept, losing both games of a doubleheader in heartbreaking fashion.

The Giants were 13-15 going into that series with Philadelphia, but after getting swept they went into a tailspin while the Phillies actually played some really inspired baseball under Mattingly. So, basically, it was my fault. I read one too many Grant Brisbee articles when I was a kid that called Mattingly a “dolt” and I had it hardwired into my brain that he was a quasi-buffoon who stepped on metaphorical rakes as manager of the Dodgers and helped the Giants win more often than not.

Mattingly is obviously a respected manager who was an amazing player and has been around major league baseball for four decades now. You don’t do that by being completely incompetent, but by the end of the season the Phillies got a taste of what made the Dodgers get rid of Mattingly and replace him with Dave Roberts.

His bullpen management came into question throughout the year and a rough month of September nearly cost the Phillies a spot in the playoffs although they were ultimately able to grab a Wild Card spot. 

Don Mattingly's decisions with Phillies came back to bite him

Mattingly’s decisions in the Wild Card series against the Atlanta Braves came into question as well. He leaned on closer Jhoan Duran and tried to get three innings out of him in Game 1 which backfired spectacularly after Austin Riley hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth. 

Then he decided to have a struggling Aaron Nola get the start in Game 3 which was not the right move as Nola didn’t even make it through two innings after surrendering three earned runs and Philadelphia got eliminated.

Many assumed that Alex Cora, previously the manager of the Boston Red Sox, would become the new manager in Philadelphia but he’s decided to take 2027 off from managing. That left Philadelphia with basically no other choice than to take Mattingly back.

In his defense, the Phillies did have a record of 79-55 after he became interim manager so he clearly did some things right. Yet, Giants fans will remember how the Dodgers played second-fiddle to the Giants back in the good old days when Mattingly was the skipper in LA and the fact that he never got them to a World Series while the Giants won three in a span of five years is a big reason why they let him go.

Donnie Baseball is respected which is really all you want in a manager, something that is still a bit of an open question when it comes to Vitello, but it remains to be seen whether Mattingly can get a talented team like the Phillies over the hump which is why the decision to bring him back seems likely to backfire. 

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