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The Philadelphia Phillies are sticking with Alec Bohm.

When the Philadelphia Phillies decided to part ways with manager Rob Thomson in April, they had the perfect interim replacement on staff, Don Mattingly. After leaving his post with the Toronto Blue Jays last season, following their run to the World Series, as John Schneider’s bench coach, he caught on in Philadelphia.

Little did anyone know what was about to happen. After the team started the season 9-19, the front office, led by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, moved on from Thomson. Digging themselves into a hole 10 games below .500, something had to be done.

MLB firings in April are rare, very rare. However, Thomson was the second MLB manager fired in April, after the Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora. Both were surprising moves. As for the Phillies, the move is turning out to be the right one. All-Star outfielder Kyle Schwarber didn’t beat around the bush about Philadelphia’s quick turnaround under Mattingly.

Philadelphia Phillies Star Kyle Schwarber Doesn’t Beat Around the Bush About Don Mattingly

On Saturday, the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-0. That win moved them 14-4 under Mattingly and clinched the fifth straight series under their interim manager. They have climbed from the basement in the National League East to second place in three weeks. Schwarber didn’t mince words about Mattingly.

“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 to the Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham. “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.”

Starting to play better, they have. Winning 14 of 18 games under their new manager shouldn’t come as a surprise. Mattingly has extensive managerial experience following his playing days. He has managed the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins. He just eclipsed his 900th win in the dugout of his career. One thing that has stood out to Schwarber is the trust he has in his team after just 18 games.

“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,” added Schwarber. “There’s a lot of trust in him, and he has trust in us.”

Philadelphia Phillies Making Move Up Standings With Talented Roster

One thing that was frustrating for the Phillies during their 9-19 start was that the talent is there. They lost left-handed pitcher Ranger Suárez in free agency to the Red Sox. However, there was still the core that had a lot of success on the roster.

Sure, the core is getting older with Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Trea Turner as position players, while Zack Wheeler is one of their veteran arms. However, every team goes through stretches in their schedule over a 162-game season where they need to make hay. Philadelphia has done that.

Philadelphia is eight games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 4.5 games back of the final NL wild-card spot. It’s the middle of May. There is plenty of time to make up ground. Regardless of how the season plays out, Mattingly has the attention of the locker room, which is big these days in MLB.