The Atlanta Braves have enjoyed seeing two of their biggest division rivals suffer this season. Both the Mets and Phillies sit at the bottom of the division after putrid starts to 2026. Atlanta has already won two series against the Phillies, and their most recent beatdown of Philly led to a surprising outcome.
The Phillies announced on Tuesday that manager Rob Thomson was fired. Maybe it's not surprising when considering the fact that the reigning NL East champs are 9-19 with a fairly talented roster. Braves fans aren't strangers to this kind of struggle, but they'll have no sympathy for their bitter rivals.
The Phillies have fired manager Rob Thomson, sources told The Athletic. Don Mattingly will be interim manager.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 28, 2026
Former Dodgers and Marlins manager Don Mattingly has been named interim manager. There were some changes to other coaching positions as well. It will be interesting to see if this move does anything to help the Phillies get back on track. It's a desperate move to try to turn things around before it gets any worse.
Phillies' descent into chaos continues after firing of Rob Thomson, but Braves fans won't like his replacement
On one hand, it is great to see the Phillies in such a state of disarray. Philly has spent big to contend in the division and have certainly given the Braves fits in recent years. However, they are not only getting older, dealing with some infighting, and struggling on the field, but now they are creating a major leadership vacuum after the first month of the season. Just terrific.
However, there is also a chance that this move actually works and the Phillies start playing better again which, well, would not be great. Making matters worse is that the Braves and Mattingly have history going back to his days managing the Marlins. If a Braves player gets buzzed by a fastball up and in the next time Atlanta takes on Philly, things could get heated in a hurry.
For the moment, this is cause for celebration. The Braves are playing great and one reason that Thomson was fired was because Atlanta beat the brakes off of them last week. If Philly turns things around, the narrative changes, but this is fun to enjoy while it lasts.
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