Don Mattingly settles into unexpected role as an interim manager, and the Phillies are better for having him

At 64, Don Mattingly looked right at home playing first base at Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon as the Phillies took infield practice.

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The nine-time Gold Glove winner adeptly scooped some low throws and was smiling the entire time.

Mattingly said later that he has mixed emotions about Fenway. He hit his first home run off John Tudor at the ballpark in 1983, a line drive to right field that wrapped around the Pesky Pole.

“But I was here in 2004, too. That memory is not a great one,” he said, recalling his days as hitting coach of the Yankees when they couldn’t finish off the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series.

Mattingly didn’t join the Phillies as bench coach in January with any expectation of becoming their manager. Rob Thomson, who had the job, is one of his best friends in baseball.

His only aim was to offer advice to Thomson when needed and spend more time with two of his sons. Preston, 38, is Philadelphia’s general manager under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. His youngest, 11-year-old Louie, also loves being around the game.

Then Thomson was fired late last month after a 9-19 start, and now Mattingly is managing again for the first time since he was with the Dodgers and Marlins from 2011-22.

“I’m enjoying it,” he said. “As a player, at the end of my career, it’s something that I felt like I wanted to do. The way it happened is not something you want, right?”

The Phillies started 12-4 under Mattingly and are working back into contention.

The schedule helped. After Mattingly took over, the Phillies played the Giants, Marlins, Athletics, Rockies, and Red Sox and won all five series. They had played their previous 13 games against the Braves and Cubs, winning twice.

The Phillies, who are loaded with lefthanded hitters, also faced righthanded starters in 12 of Mattingly’s first 16 games.

“Our guys are playing better now than they were before,” said Phillies major league field coordinator Mike Calitri, a Canton native. “I think we’ll be battling for something. There’s some excitement because we’re all going in the same direction.”

It helps that Mattingly’s stature as a player resonates in a clubhouse that includes Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler, and other stars.

“When they make the decision to make the change, you look at Donnie and the resume, that he played at such a high level and managed some good teams,” Schwarber said. “He knows what it takes. There were no drastic changes in what we’re doing. We know the group we have and what we’re capable of. We needed to start playing better, no matter who the manager was.

“But with him at the helm and having trust in us, there’s going to be some different things we’re going to try to do. There’s a lot of trust in him, and he has trust in us.”

Mattingly played 14 seasons in the majors, all for the Yankees, and has coached or managed at the highest level since 2004. He has yet to earn a World Series ring. This season may represent his last, best chance.

“I feel fairly comfortable,” Mattingly said. “Early on, it felt fast. Since then, it’s been pretty good. It helps when we’re winning. I’m glad to be in this seat.”

Pardon my cynicism, but it was refreshing — and a bit surprising — to hear interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy say last week that he decides the lineup, not the front office.

“The final pen to paper is my call,” he said.

Tracy said he generally sits with bench coach José David Flores to come up with the lineup.

“I get ideas and hear other people’s thoughts about where will be a good day [to use] this guy or that guy,” he said. “That will always be the case. I have really good people around me that I trust to cover your blind spots.”

It can’t be easy. The Sox went into the weekend with the worst offense in the American League, a product of their lack of power and poor seasons from, among others, Caleb Durbin, Jarren Duran, Carlos Narváez, and Trevor Story.

Tracy had seven-plus years of experience managing in the minors before he was promoted. He said the level of information in the major leagues is far deeper, and there’s more video to use when making decisions.

“Similar information but a much wider [range] of what is actually available to you,” he said.

Minor league lineups are focused on development, not necessarily winning games.

“In the minor leagues, the construction of a lineup is who’s on the 40-man [roster] that’s immediately going to help us? Who are the top prospects that we need to see get in the batter’s box a lot?

“A guy hitting first vs. sixth could be the difference of 100 plate appearances in a year. All of that stuff is considered for getting guys the reps they need; making sure that 40-man guys who are going to come up the next day are ready to go.”

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ Speaking of the lineup, how long do the Sox keep Duran batting leadoff? He has a .304 on-base percentage batting first over the last two seasons, with 100 more strikeouts (142) than walks (42).

That’s a 127-game sample size, too.

▪ Wilyer Abreu is off to start that could merit down-ballot MVP votes.

The 27-year-old right fielder has a team-best .860 OPS and leads all American League outfielders with 11 defensive runs saved. Only Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (13) has more.

Abreu won his second Gold Glove last season and has been even better this year.

“It’s hard to believe because he was so good before,” Tracy said. “Balls get hit, and it looks like he’s already taken four steps by the time you glance at him.

“He’s moving before the ball even comes off the bat. He’s just become very, very good.”

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▪ You may have noticed Sox players on second base seeming to signal the batter what pitch is coming. With PitchCom, there are no signs to steal, but some pitchers give it away by how they waggle their gloves or if they show their grip too early.

That said, the Sox are mostly pretending, according to several opposing teams.

“Some of it’s real, and some of it’s just to make you think they know something,” Mattingly said. “We saw a lot of the same [signals] on different pitches, so it tells you they didn’t really have anything.”

▪ If the Sox wanted to fire Jason Varitek as game planning and run prevention coach, fine. That’s their right. Varitek was traded as a prospect and became a part-time player at the end of his playing career. He understands how the game works.

But the Sox claimed, “he has been reassigned to a new role within the organization.” Was that supposed to mollify the fans who have fond memories of Varitek from his playing days?

That wasn’t true. Like manager Alex Cora and the rest of the coaches who were fired, Varitek is a free agent and can join another team if he chooses.

In a NESN appearance, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Varitek has an “open invitation to stay in the organization as long as he wants.”

It would be out of character for Varitek to take some phony job and pretend all is well. If he wants to stay in baseball, there are teams that would value what he has to offer.

▪ Baseball America’s latest top prospect list has lefthander Payton Tolle eighth, with Double-A shortstop Franklin Arias soaring from 46th to 16th. Arias had a 1.072 OPS through his first 29 games this season.

(Yes, Tolle is still considered a prospect, but won’t be much longer.)

Two righthanders drafted last season — Anthony Eyanson (No. 48) and Kyson Witherspoon (73) — also made the list.

Three New England players are in the Top 100. Marlins Triple-A lefthander Thomas White (Rowley, Phillips Andover) is 11th. Dodgers High-A outfielder Mike Sirota (Northeastern) is 40th, and Cardinals Triple-A outfielder Joshua Baez (Boston, Dexter Southfield) is 57th.

Sirota was considered a potential first-round pick going into his junior season with the Huskies, but fell to the Reds in the third round of the 2024 draft. The Dodgers acquired him in a trade for infielder Gavin Lux prior to the 2025 season. He has since posted a 1.091 OPS in 89 games for the Dodgers.

Ryan Flynn is a baseball evangelist, bringing the game to places such as Australia, Guam, and New Zealand, undeterred by any obstacles.

He arrived in New Zealand in 2009 and helped build the national team to the point where it fell a game short of qualifying for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

“It would have been one of the greatest upsets in baseball history had we advanced,” Flynn said.

Now he has taken on another big challenge: building up the baseball culture in Ireland.

Flynn was named chief executive officer of Baseball Ireland earlier this month. He is tasked with growing a grassroots program from the tee-ball level up while finding or developing players for the national team.

There are eight baseball clubs in Ireland, home to about 500 players. Gaelic football, soccer, hurling, rugby, and a few other sports are far more popular.

“That’s the kind of challenge I like,” Flynn said. “I want to go head-to-head and go after the best athletes and show a vision for the future.”

Beyond his Irish roots, the 55-year-old Flynn has an eclectic background that makes him a perfect fit for the job. He was born in upstate New York and played third base for St. Rose College. He has since visited 80-plus countries and lived in England, Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Palau, a small island nation in the Pacific.

Flynn has a playbook for fundraising, building awareness, and engaging people. He has already spoken to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and scheduled a meeting with Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy, among others.

“You have to work with the diaspora and raise awareness,” Flynn said.

Italy offers an example of what is possible. The Azzurri beat the United States in pool play during this year’s WBC, then knocked off Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals before losing 4-2 to Venezuela in the semifinals.

Most of Italy’s players were major leaguers of Italian heritage. But there were three natives on the roster, and baseball gained previously unprecedented attention in the country.

“Why can’t Ireland do that?” Flynn said. “The WBC had a huge impact in Italy in terms of interest in baseball.”

There have been 48 major leaguers born in Ireland, most of whom played in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The last was righthander Joe Cleary, who was born in Cork and raised in New York City. He appeared in one game for the 1945 Senators and allowed seven runs in one-third of an inning against the Red Sox at Washington’s Griffith Stadium.

If there’s a next one, it could be a player Flynn helps to discover.

The large Irish community in the Boston area could be a resource for Baseball Ireland, and Flynn is eager to hear from would-be supporters. Contact him at [email protected].

This is amazing. The Dodgers and Giants have played 2,602 times, going back to 1890. The Giants lead the series 1,292-1,291 with 19 ties … Good statistic from Mark Zuckerman of Nats Journal: The Nationals have lost 15 consecutive games when having a chance to get to .500. They beat the White Sox, 6-3, on May 14, 2024, to improve to 20-20, then lost the second game of a doubleheader. They have not been over .500 since … Rafael Devers finished April with a .537 OPS, then hit .356 with a 1.078 OPS in the first 13 games of May. The Giants’ first baseman/DH is back to hammering pitches on the outside corner and using the whole field … Cal Raleigh is having a rough season. The Mariners catcher made a fool of himself in March, snubbing Seattle teammate Randy Arozarena when he came to the plate for Mexico during a WBC game against the United States. Raleigh has since hit .161 and on Thursday was placed on the injured list with what was said to be an oblique strain. He was 2 for 44 with 19 strikeouts in the previous 11 games. All this after finishing second to Aaron Judge in the American League MVP voting last season and hitting 60 homers … Cardinals lefthander Packy Naughton, a West Roxbury native, has opted for what will be a third elbow surgery in a span of two years. The procedure, scheduled for June, will determine how long he is out. The 30-year-old Naughton has not appeared in a major league game since early in the 2023 season … Rays lefthander Shane McClanahan had Tommy John surgery in August 2023 and missed all of the ′24 season. A triceps injury that led to nerve damage cost him the ’25 season. Despite all that time away, McClanahan is 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA through eight starts this season, and his four-seam fastball has approached 98 m.p.h. “I think that’s kind of what a lot of us thought was, it’s just going to take a little bit of time,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said. “We’re a month and a half in, pushing two months, and he’s definitely [going] in the right direction.” … Alex Verdugo, who has not appeared in a major league game since last July 1 with the Braves, is facing yet another career crossroads. The 30-year-old outfielder was released from his minor league contract with the Padres without having played a game and is expected to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Verdugo has a .631 OPS in 205 major league games since 2024 … Shohei Ohtani had an 0.82 ERA over his first seven starts on the mound. In Dodgers history, only Fernando Valenzuela (0.29 in 1981) has been better over the first seven starts of a season. Valenzuela had an incredible five shutouts in his first seven starts en route to winning the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year that season … No. 23 Boston College is playing for seeding in the NCAA Tournament, which would be its first since 2023. UConn, Yale, and Holy Cross are well-positioned to win their respective conference tournaments and claim automatic bids. Northeastern, which has made the tournament three times in the last five seasons, will likely have to get by Campbell in the CAA. The NCAA field will be announced on May 25 … Happy birthday to Brayan Bello, who is 27. The Red Sox righthander first joined the organization in 2017 when he was 18. Bello was one of 78 players who appeared in the Dominican Summer League for the Sox in 2018. Only he and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela made it to the majors. They have been teammates in the majors since 2023.

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