Two Teams Fired Their Managers in April and Now They're About to Collide at Fenway

This is wild: the Red Sox and Phillies are the only two teams in baseball that couldn't wait until the offseason to make a managerial change. Boston dumped Alex Cora and most of his coaching staff on April 26. The Phillies followed two days later, firing Rob Thomson. Now these two desperate teams are meeting for a three-game series at Fenway Park this week, and the results since the changes tell completely different stories about who's figured it out faster.

Mattingly's Phillies Are Playing Like a Different Team

Don Mattingly took over in Philadelphia and the numbers are absolutely wild. The Phillies are 10-3 under him. Under Thomson? They were 9-19. That's not just better, that's a complete turnaround.

The real difference is run prevention. Philadelphia's defense is actually catching the ball now. Under Thomson, the Phillies converted 64.7% of batted balls into outs. Under Mattingly, that jumped to 68.8%. Still below the MLB average of 70%, but the improvement is real. Their ERA dropped from 5.13 to 3.40. Runs allowed per game went from 5.57 down to 3.54. The strikeout rate improved to 27.6%, and they're walking fewer guys too.

"We're catching the baseball better now. The bats are getting better," Mattingly said after Sunday's 6-0 shutout over Colorado. "I think it's kind of normalizing."

The Red Sox Are Better, But Still Scrambling

Chad Tracy's Red Sox have posted a 7-6 record since taking over, which sounds fine until you remember they were 10-17 under Cora. Yeah, that's an improvement, but they're still sitting in the AL East cellar and need to pick up the pace if they want any shot at October baseball.

The Red Sox will lean on their rotation this week, with Sonny Gray starting Wednesday at 3-1 with a 3.54 ERA. The Phillies counter with Andrew Painter (1-4, 6.89) and Ranger Suárez (2-2, 2.77), who spent his first eight years in Philadelphia before leaving. This will be Suárez's first start ever against the Phillies.

The Reality Check

Let's be honest: the Phillies won't go 10-for-13 every month for the rest of the season. They've also caught a break with their schedule, playing mostly weak teams. But Mattingly has clearly stabilized the pitching and tightened up the defense in a way that's working right now.

The Red Sox need this series. They can't afford to fall further behind in the East. First pitch Tuesday is 6:45 p.m. ET at Fenway.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.