Can Don Mattingly save Phillies skipper Rob Thomson from himself?

David Robertson, 40 and unemployed until July, put out a fire in the sixth inning of the Phillies’ first playoff game of 2025, but he hadn’t pitched an “up-down” all season — ending one inning and beginning another. With a one-run lead, Rob Thomson sent him back out for the seventh. Robertson hit one batter and another singled. Thomson then brought in Matt Strahm, who hadn’t inherited a runner in six weeks. Strahm got two outs, then gave up a three-run homer. The Phillies lost Game 1 of the NLDS to the Dodgers.

Two nights later, with a slow runner on second base and nobody out in the ninth inning of a one-run game, Thomson directed Bryson Stott to bunt. Twice. The Dodgers ran a “wheel” play and nailed the runner at third. The Phillies lost Game 2 of the NLDS.

» READ MORE: Phillies hire Don Mattingly as bench coach: ‘This is the perfect guy’

These are the latest blemishes on Thomson’s thin resumé. He was elevated from longtime major league bench coach to first-time manager in June 2022, and the Phillies have at least played to the level of their payroll ever since, but they’ve faltered in the fall. Fairly or not, from pulling Zack Wheeler early in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series to not pinch-hitting early for Johan Rojas in Game 7 of the 2023 NLCS, the popularity of the affable, accountable skipper has steadily waned.

Enter Donnie Baseball.

After an intense, two-month recruiting effort, the Phillies on Monday hired Yankees legend Don Mattingly, 64, to replace Mike Calitri as bench coach. Immediately after the four-game NLDS loss to the Dodgers, the Phillies reassigned Calitri to the post of major league field coordinator, which means he’ll retain his myriad administrative duties as they pertain to scheduling and number-crunching. But he no longer will be Thomson’s chief lieutenant; no longer the voice of reason in tight situations.

That louder, deeper voice will belong to Mattingly.

Thomson was asked Monday if some of his playoff missteps might have been averted had Mattingly been on the bench, protesting.

“Possibly,” Thomson replied. “Possibly. You never know.”

“Missteps” might be unfair, but Thomson has addressed each one with honest reevaluation. His authenticity and his absence of ego are part of his charisma.

Charisma doesn’t win World Series.

Anyway, the dugout’s charisma just grew by a factor of 10.

For a decade, Mattingly was the face of the Yankees, then the biggest sports franchise in America. His .307 career average, .830 OPS, and nine Gold Glove awards make him a logical Hall of Fame candidate who has been cursed by a largely illogical voting bloc. With a husky build, full mustache, and thick, full head of dark hair, he was an archetype of a baseball player for a generation. Even today, as the cleft in his chin grows deeper with age, he looks like a movie-star version of a once-great athlete.

» READ MORE: ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Don Mattingly on why he walked away from baseball ‘to be with my boys,’ including Preston

He managed the Dodgers to the playoffs three times and the Marlins once, in 2020, when he was National League Manager of the Year. He has coached for the Yankees, Dodgers, and, for the last three seasons, for the Blue Jays, who lost the World Series to the Dodgers in seven games. Mattingly expected Game 7 to be the last of his career.

But Phillies president Dave Dombrowski was on the phone the next day, and the day after that, and so forth. Finally, Mattingly agreed.

From now on, every decision — who pitches the eighth inning, who sits for a defensive replacement, who steals and who sacrifices — will go through a man with credentials Thomson simply doesn’t have.

“We can now blame Don for it,” Thomson joked.

Mattingly might have agreed to support Thomson for the next two seasons, but he agreed to much more than just making sure that Topper doesn’t bunt again in the ninth with nobody out.

Mattingly immediately validates a coaching room full of excellent, but anonymous, teachers of the game. With a roster that includes Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Wheeler, in a game in which nothing carries more weight than having withstood the brightest lights yourself, this cannot be overstated.

“He’s a great sounding board for our stars because he’s been there and done all these things,” Thomson said. “The rest of us really can’t [say] that.”

One of the most important services a bench coach provides is as a buffer between a manager and the players or as an enforcer who snuffs sparks before they become fires. It’s doubtful that Nick Castellanos’ insubordination or Strahm’s frequent criticisms would have proliferated if Mattingly had been around the clubhouse.

Asked if he ever wanted to wear the skipper hat again, Mattingly was steadfast and insistent in his reply.

“I feel like those days have passed me by; I don’t have any aspirations to manage,” Mattingly said. “I don’t think I have the energy for that anymore.”

» READ MORE: ‘Not elite’ Bryce Harper could use better lineup protection. Here are the Phillies’ options.

Well, then, he took the wrong job.

If the Phillies stumble early in 2026, or if, heaven forbid, something incapacitates Thomson, Mattingly will be the obvious choice to replace him. You simply don’t take a job as bench coach without the understanding that you will manage the team in case of dismissal or emergency. Also …

The Phillies and Mattingly want us to believe that the presence of Preston Mattingly as the Phillies’ general manager is almost entirely coincidental to their pursuit of him and of him delaying retirement. Mattingly swore that, even though Press is his son, he never would betray the sanctity of the dugout and clubhouse to the front office.

“I’m not a voice running upstairs to talk about anything and everything,” Don said, clearly aware that some organizations are run in exactly that manner. “I came from a different era where that is not something that happens.”

» READ MORE: Preston Mattingly felt helpless as his mother battled alcoholism. Here’s how they discovered her ‘second life’ together.

That said, after more than four decades of playing and working in the majors, Mattingly admitted that he has envisioned the sweetness of winning the first World Series with his son as his boss.

“To be able to do that with him would be incredible,” Don said.

Incredibly difficult.

In fact, even chiming in on Thomson’s occasional cockeyed decisions, and even riding herd over a roster full of coddled princelings, maintaining a normal father-son relationship while balancing a strictly professional GM-bench coach relationship will be the hardest part of old Don Mattingly’s new job.