Kyle Schwarber didn’t dance around the question when it came to Don Mattingly.
With the Phillies’ managerial situation unsettled after the team moved on from Rob Thomson and then fell to the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card round, Schwarber made it clear where he stands on Mattingly’s work in Philadelphia.
“I felt like he did a great job for us when we were in that tough spot,” Kyle Schwarber said, per NBC Sports Philadelphia, “and the way that he was able to get us to turn that page from a really hard time where you lose a guy -- you lost our manager who brought us to a lot of important games -- and I felt like his demeanor was great for us.”
That kind of endorsement stands out, especially with reports suggesting Mattingly is unlikely to come back as the Phillies’ manager, even if there’s a chance he remains with the staff in some role.
Not everyone on the roster was eager to weigh in. Bryce Harper, for one, didn’t want to address the situation at the moment.
But Schwarber did, and his message was pretty straightforward: Mattingly steadied the room when things were shaky. He stepped into a difficult situation and, by Schwarber’s account, handled it with the right presence.
For a Phillies team loaded with talent, the season never quite reached the level it seemed capable of hitting. Mattingly, at the very least, helped push them closer to that ceiling than they had been earlier in the year under Thomson.
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Phillies Suddenly Face An Offseason Decision That Once Felt Untouchable
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Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are the names hanging over those conversations, which is what makes the moment so unusual for Philadelphia. Both have been central to the clubs identity and success, but the Phillies also know October misses tend to sharpen every decision, especially when contract concerns enter the picture. Even with the change in direction late in the year, the real test may come now, when the organization has to decide whether to stay committed to its core or consider moving parts that once felt untouchable. [Read more 🡒]