Kyle Schwarber had praise for Don Mattingly after the Philadelphia Phillies’ season ended Thursday night.
Following a 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves in the deciding game of the NL Wild Card Series, Schwarber pointed to the interim manager’s steady approach through a difficult year.
NBC Sports Philadelphia shared Schwarber’s postgame comments on X, formerly Twitter, early Friday. When speaking about Mattingly taking over in April, the Phillies star slugger had this to say:
“Even when things got hard, the way that he was able to keep things at an even keel for us. I think that was huge.”
The endorsement came after Mattingly led the Phillies back to the postseason from a 9-19 start. He replaced Rob Thomson on April 28, and the Phillies went 79-55 under him in the regular season to finish 88-74. Their playoff run ended in three games at Truist Park.
Schwarber did his part to extend the season. In Game 2, his solo homer in the eighth cut a 3-1 deficit to 3-2; Bryce Harper followed with the homer that tied it, and Alec Bohm won it in the 10th. Atlanta took control early in Game 3, though, on Michael Harris II’s three-run homer in the first inning. Ozzie Albies added a two-run shot in the fourth, and Matt Olson homered in the seventh.
Schwarber’s support comes as Phillies weigh Mattingly’s future
Schwarber’s remarks reaffirmed his support for the manager at a consequential moment. Mattingly held the job on an interim basis throughout the turnaround, and Philadelphia has not announced who will manage the club in 2027.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sept. 22 that the Phillies would wait until their season ended before deciding Mattingly’s future. That point has now arrived, though the postseason defeat has given the club little time to make its decision.
The Braves advance to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series. The Phillies, meanwhile, must assess a season that recovered from a disastrous start but ended in the wild-card round. Schwarber made clear what Mattingly contributed along the way: a consistent presence when the club needed one.
