He can phix this.
On April 28th, the Philadelphia Phillies were 9-19 and tied with the Mets for the worst record in baseball. They'd lost 11 of their last 12. Rob Thomson was out. Don Mattingly, Thomson's bench coach, moved one chair over.
The phlip: It’s been widely reported that fired Red Sox skipper Alex Cora was offered the Phillies job before Mattingly. And when Cora turned down the Phillies, there is the fact that Preston Mattingly, Don's son, is the Phillies' GM. The hire wasn't Preston's to make (he reports to team president Dave Dombrowski), but it's the kind of detail that hangs in the air. Regardless of how he ended up in the job, under Mattingly the Phillies ripped off four straight wins, then lost a shutout to the Marlins on May 2nd, then turned around and beat Miami again the next night — Jesús Luzardo, who had been the rotation's biggest concern, struck out 10 in six innings. At 5-1 under Mattingly something seems different about this club.
The phix: The manager change doesn't touch the real problems: Aaron Nola's ERA is over six. Luzardo, who just signed a five-year, $135 million extension, posted a 7.94 ERA over his first four starts before the recent turnaround. Wheeler is back to bolster the rotation, a needed fix with the Phillies getting very little from Andrew Painter and Taijuan Walker. When it comes to the hitters, Kyle Schwarber hit his 350th career home run this week, reaching that mark in fewer games than Babe Ruth. And let’s not forget Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Brandon Marsh, and Adolis Garcia. But despite those big names the Phils rank 26th in runs scored.
The phorerunner: In 2003 the Marlins fired Jeff Torborg at 16-22, Jack McKeon came in, and they won the World Series. And there’s a precedent closer to home — in 2022, the Phillies fired Joe Girardi and installed Rob Thomson. Thomson led them to the NL pennant and four straight playoff appearances. Thomson is now the one on the way out, which means Mattingly is chasing a precedent set by the man he replaced. 14-20 is a long way from the postseason. But five wins in six games after the worst start in baseball is something.
The Hot Corner
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Jolly Olive dives into the data to see if firing a manager actually makes a difference.
