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Don Mattingly has taken over as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies and led the team to an 8-1 record. He is predicted to potentially win the Manager of the Year award, joining only two other managers in MLB history who achieved this mid-season.
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Phillies' Don Mattingly predicted to join 2 managers in MLB history with realistic MLB award originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies made the massively bold decision to fire Rob Thomson very early into the 2026 MLB season after a disastrous start.
They handed the keys to Don Mattingly, and since he's taken over, the Phillies have gone 8-1 and have looked like the team many expected them to look like at the start of the year.
Amid such a turnaround, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report predicted that Mattingly would join two other managers in MLB history as the only managers to take over mid-season to win the manager of the year award.
"Don Mattingly wins NL Manager of the Year," Miller writes. "... only two 92.3 percent) - Florida's Jack McKeon in 2003 (75-49) and Colorado's Jim Tracy in 2009 (74-42) - were mid-season replacements after disappointing starts. Could Don Mattingly become the third member of that club?"
While it would take a lot for the Phillies new manager to win this award, the Phillies can go on a heater down the stretch, steal the top spot in the NL East from the Atlanta Braves, and land Mattingly this award. It's not likely, but it is possible.
Don Mattingly led the Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-1 record since taking over as manager.
Don Mattingly is predicted to join two other managers in MLB history who won the Manager of the Year award after taking over mid-season.
Rob Thomson was fired after a disastrous start to the 2026 MLB season, prompting the Phillies to make a managerial change.

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The Phillies, coming into the season, were viewed as a top World Series contender coming out of the NL. While things didn't start off right, they are now working their way back from the 9-19 start.
If Mattingly's team can continue to stay hot and play elite baseball for the remainder of the season, they not only could make the postseason, but they could even take the top seed.
Of course, it's more likely that the Phillies wind up as a Wild Card team if they do make the postseason, with the Braves already 8.5 games up on the Phillies.
However, with the Braves' Walt Weiss the frontrunner for the award so far this season, if the Phillies managed to overtake the Braves in the NL East standings, then Mattingly might have a legitimate case for this award.
It's May 7th, and the Phillies are 8.5 games back of the Braves. With over 100 games left to make up this difference, Mattingly and the Phillies have time to make up the difference with the Braves.
Mattingly winning this award isn't likely by any means, but if he leads the Phillies to a better record than the Braves by season's end, he might have a case for the NL Manager of the Year award for such a miraculous turnaround.