9:52am: The Phils have announced the news. Mattingly has been named interim manager for the remainder of the 2026 season. Third base coach Dusty Wathan receives a promotion to bench coach. Triple-A skipper Anthony Contreras was called up to the MLB staff to take over third base coaching duties.

9:47 am: There’s a major shakeup in Philadelphia. Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports that the Phils have fired skipper Rob Thomson. Bench coach Don Mattingly is taking over as interim manager.

Philadelphia is the second struggling big-market team to make an early managerial change. The Red Sox dismissed Alex Cora and much of their coaching staff over the weekend. The Phillies didn’t overhaul the coaching staff to the same extent, but it’s a major change nonetheless. They’ll hope it’ll light a fire under an underperforming team that is out to a 9-19 start, tying them with the Mets at the bottom of the National League.

Given the timing of the dismissals, there’ll naturally be some speculation about Cora as a candidate for the Philadelphia position. Phils president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was leading the Red Sox’s front office when Boston first hired Cora in 2017. The Sox won the World Series a year later.

However, it’s perhaps notable that the Phillies specified Mattingly as their interim manager through season’s end. Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests the Phils are not planning to hire Cora or any other skipper in the short term. Mattingly, of course, has an even stronger family tie with the Philly front office. His son Preston is Philadelphia’s general manager, the #2 role in the front office underneath Dombrowski.

More to come.