The Phillies’ surge since late April has become a pretty clean lesson in what a turnaround actually looks like.
Philadelphia was sitting at 9-19 when it moved on from former manager Rob Thomson on April 28th, 2026. Since former Toronto Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly took over, the Phillies have gone 39-19 and pushed themselves back into an NL East race with the Atlanta Braves that felt finished in early May.
Mattingly has helped steady things, but the real engine behind the change has been the players at the top of the roster. Kyle Schwarber has led MLB with 30 home runs.
Bryce Harper has posted a near-.900 OPS since May 1st. Brandon Marsh has been hitting well above .300 and adding unexpected power.
Even with all that production, Philadelphia still hasn’t gotten close to the kind of output it expects from All-Star shortstop Trea Turner.
The pitching has followed the same script. Zack Wheeler’s return and Cristopher Sánchez’s continued dominance have given the Phillies a strong one-two punch at the top of the rotation, while Jesús Luzardo has worked past a slow start to settle in as a dependable third starter.
That kind of star-level production is exactly what makes Philadelphia’s rise easy to explain. It also makes Toronto’s problems look a lot more glaring.
The Blue Jays have gotten the opposite from their marquee names. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Alejandro Kirk have all badly underperformed in 2026. Guerrero, in particular, still hasn’t hit a home run in Toronto and has seen his OPS fall below .700.
Toronto’s issues with runners in scoring position have only made the problem worse, and those three have been among the biggest culprits. The Blue Jays have simply not delivered in the spots where stars are supposed to take over.
That’s why the idea of firing John Schneider doesn’t hold up here. He’s putting the lineup together, but Guerrero and the rest of the core aren’t producing. The issue isn’t the manager’s presence in the dugout; it’s that the team’s best hitters aren’t doing their part.
Schneider has taken plenty of heat over the years, and he hasn’t been perfect. But replacing him wouldn’t magically fix a roster that isn’t getting the kind of impact it needs from its biggest names.
Thomson wasn’t the reason Philadelphia stumbled out of the gate, and Mattingly isn’t the sole reason it has roared back. Toronto’s situation isn’t likely to change for the better unless its stars start carrying the load the way Schwarber and Harper have for the Phillies.
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