The 2026 season did not end the way the Atlanta Braves would have preferred. After rebounding from a dreadful 2025 season, the Braves were ultimately eliminated in the NLDS by a hated Dodgers team, thanks to Atlanta's offense essentially taking the series off. However, one bright spot from the Braves' playoff run was the opportunity to eliminate Don Mattingly and the Phillies.
It is always nice to send a division rival as despised as the Phillies home for the season, but it was particularly sweet that it was a Mattingly-led Phillies team. The Braves and Mattingly have a storied history, particularly when he was managing the Marlins and his teams repeatedly threw at Ronald Acuña Jr. because he was dominating them on the field. Philly was pressed into naming Mattingly their interim manager after they fired Rob Thomson, but most assumed he would be replaced at some point this offseason.
However, that is not the case. On Wednesday, it was revealed that the Phillies were keeping Mattingly around for the foreseeable future as their manager. To say the Braves should be pleased is an understatement.
The Phillies have signed manager Don Mattingly to a two-year contract.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) October 14, 2026
Phillies bringing back Don Mattingly is great news for the Braves going forward
Now, Mattingly is good at a few things. He seems to have a good feel for how his players are feeling, and he has been around the game forever. If any team was looking for a bench coach that can lend advice during the course of games, Mattingly is a fine choice.
However, Mattingly's old-school persona and methodology do not translate well to the modern game of baseball. If you go back and look at the 13 seasons that Mattingly has managed, the 2026 season was the first winning season he had since 2015. He has never won a playoff series. He never won a ring as a player. The Phillies did get a small boost after he took over this past season, but that quickly dissipated, and they limped into the playoffs before Atlanta sent them packing.
If you are the Braves and are looking at this decision, you are applauding. The one thing that Mattingly doesn't do is make that team better. Philly may have a very supportive owner that desperately wants to win a World Series, but his reliance on a front office guru that is overly reliant on successfully closing blockbuster deals and a manager that wants to manage like it is the 1980's is playing right into the Braves' hands.
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