The Phillies were 9-19 on April 26, but they’re 24-23 following today’s sweep in Pittsburgh. The last team to fall 10+ games under .500, but later be at or above .500 through 47 games was the 2001 A’s, who were 8-18, but 24-23 by their 47th game.
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The Phillies' 19-game turnaround under interim manager Don Mattingly has caught the attention of the baseball world.
After a brutal start to the season, the Philadelphia Phillies have righted the ship. Their 6-0 win over Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates pushed them to 24-23, putting them on the winning side of .500 for the first time since April 7th.
The early story of the Phillies’ season was an underperformance of both the starting lineup and rotation. Philadelphia began the season 9-19 under Rob Thomson, leading to his dismissal and bench coach Don Mattingly named the interim manager.
Under Mattingly, the Phillies have thrived. The team is 15-4 and has won all six series under their new manager. Further showing how strong they’ve played, Philadelphia is seventh in wRC+ (108) and fifth in ERA (3.07) since April 28.
One aspect that doesn’t get enough attention is Zack Wheeler’s return from injury. The Phillies’ right-hander has picked up right where he left off in his return from thoracic outlet surgery, with a 1.99 ERA and a 2.37 FIP in five starts. His return has turned the Phillies’ rotation into arguably the best in the league, led by himself and left-hander Cristopher Sanchez.
While it took a leadership change to make it happen, the Phillies have quickly morphed into the team most people expected they’d be entering the 2026 season. Mattingly is already getting glowing reviews by some of the most respected players on the club.
When a team suddenly goes from 10 games under .500 to a winning record in less than 20 games, it will generate quite the reaction. Here are some of the best posts on X on the Phillies’ remarkable turnaround.
The Phillies were 9-19 on April 26, but they’re 24-23 following today’s sweep in Pittsburgh. The last team to fall 10+ games under .500, but later be at or above .500 through 47 games was the 2001 A’s, who were 8-18, but 24-23 by their 47th game.
The Phillies are the fifth team in the last 100 years to go from 10+ games under .500 to at least one game over .500, all within the span of the first 47 games of the season, joining:
1951 Giants1958 Cardinals1996 Marlins2001 Athletics
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/5f5E3M7LMQ
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) May 18, 2026
As usual, Sarah provides the perfect historical context for explaining how insane this turnaround really is. When you can count the number of times it happened in the past 100 years on one hand, it truly is an impressive feat. Because that’s hundreds, if not thousands, of seasons to compare to.
What an impressive, impressive sweep by these guys.
Win of the season Friday followed up by pure dominance from Sánchez and Wheeler.
The starting staff just changes the equation for this team. Also, the offense is slowly but surely finding their footing.
We’ve got a ball…
— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) May 17, 2026
It will be interesting to listen to what Jack has to say on the air regarding this turnaround. Phillies fans can listen to it on the drive home from work.
I put the Phillies in my Power Rankings last week at No. 10 and a lot of people were mad.
Nobody else had them in Power Rankings.
They have the best record in MLB over the last 2 weeks and they just put up 5 runs on Paul Skenes in 5 innings.
I look forward to having them in… pic.twitter.com/cWmvwzjt7n
— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) May 17, 2026
My guess is they will be ranked much higher on the next list after a 5-1 week and dominant wins for a team with a winning record.
The Phillies have a +37 run differential since April 28th, the day that Don Mattingly took over.
That is the best in all of baseball.
— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) May 17, 2026
That’s pretty good. Although it’s no shock considering they’re 11 games over .500 in that run.
Bryce Harper: "I don't think that thought ever crossed our mind that we weren't the team."
The Phillies are somehow a game above .500 after digging themselves into an incredibly deep hole in April.
— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) May 17, 2026
Bryce Harper has been a big reason why the Phillies are back. The Phillies first baseman has homered six times in his last 13 games and owns a 157 wRC+ for the season, his highest since his second MVP campaign in 2021.
The Phillies were 9-19. They needed to make a change and they did. They needed to take advantage of the stretch of games against below average teams and they did. Now they are 24-23, above 500 for the first time since April 7th.
Just how we all predicted it would go!
— Andrew Salciunas (@asalciunas975) May 17, 2026
As they say, you can only control who you play. But I think he’s not giving both the Pirates and Athletics enough credit. Those are two teams that are playing above expectations and are on a positive trajectory moving forward. The Phillies should treat those as quality wins nonetheless.
This isn’t the first time the Phillies have had to change managers under general manager Preston Mattingly and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Four seasons ago, they made a similar move to save their season. Former Yankees World Series-winning manager Joe Girardi was let go in favor of Thomson.
The Phillies rebounded from a 22-29 start under Girardi and finished 87-75 to capture a Wild Card spot. The club got hot in October, taking down the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, and San Diego Padres en route to a World Series appearance. While they ultimately fell to the Houston Astros, that run established the Phillies as a contender.
The Phillies haven’t had much postseason success since. They blew a 3-2 series lead at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks the following season, then were bounced in the division series the following two seasons. For a team and city with championship aspirations, it wasn’t good enough.
With their change at manager, Dombrowski and Mattingly believe history will repeat itself.
Michael McDermott Michael McDermott is a writer at Heavy Sports covering the Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball. Michael has 10 years experience writing about the D-backs and their farm system for AZ Snake Pit, Burn City Sports, and Diamondbacks On SI. More about Michael McDermott
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