Thursday, October 15, 2026
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Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski finally held his post-season press conference, recapping the 2026 season and outlining off-season thoughts to prepare for 2027.
This year’s post-mortem was atypical. Dombrowski started with coaching staff changes and addressed one of the club’s biggest perceived problems this past season: the performance of Trea Turner.
One of the reasons for the gap between the end of the season and today’s presser was Dombrowski’s desire to speak with some players face to face about next year. The club flew their superstar shortstop back from Florida to discuss 2027.
Dombrowski said Turner took full accountability for his performance last season, just as he did with the media after the Phillies were eliminated by the Atlanta Braves. The message from the front office seemed a little more direct than in years past:
“From a defensive perspective, we are very clear,” Dombrowski relayed. “[Turner] knows he has to be better at shortstop, and I told him that it's really mandatory. He feels he can play, and if he plays shortstop like he did in ‘25, he can play shortstop. But if he plays it like he did in ‘26, he can't.”
Dombrowski added that while they are entering 2027 with Turner as the incumbent shortstop, there is no guarantee he plays there on Opening Day. The front office went through scenarios with Turner about what they may do if he is not meeting a new standard in the field during Spring Training, and also felt comfortable with the idea of making a change “at a moment’s notice,” if needed.
The club feels their young infielders who, if ready, could impact that decision, as free agent or other offseason moves also would. Working closely with new fielding coach Carlos Mendoza will be important for this decision, as well.
The veteran front office leader expanded on Turner’s off-season work, noting he has already begun working on his swing. Dombrowski wants to ensure that his shortstop works with Don Mattingly and the eventual hitting coach on this, as well
It was previously announced that Don Mattingly would have the interim label removed from his title as manager. What had not been confirmed were the changes across the coaching staff.
After a significant falloff offensively, the club has decided to move on from long-time hitting coach Kevin Long. In addition, fielding coach Bobby Dickerson was relieved of his duties and Dombrowski announced the hiring of former New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
Mendoza is already tasked with working closely with Turner on improving his up-and-down defense in hopes of remaining at shortstop (Turner’s preference). He will also reach out to the other infielders in-house, both at the majors and upper minor leagues, to try to improve another area of deficiency for the 2026 Phillies.
Long’s replacement has yet to be named, but Mattingly, who spoke over Zoom after Dombrowski’s press conference was finished, will have plenty of say in the decision.
“Dave’s pretty clear about, when you’re interviewing, if [a candidate] doesn’t fit with you, that’s not gonna work,” Mattingly said. “I feel like I have plenty of input…hitting has changed so much and the amount of information that comes in and how you use that information.”
Mattingly assumes he will be able to speak with any potential candidate for a long time, despite not knowing many of today’s hitting coaches across the league. One important thing for the manager will be not just the information, but what you do with it.
“[Hitting] is an area I feel like I have a decent understanding. You do have to be able to use the information. We have all the information that you need. I think you have to be able to use it, but you also have to be able to help a guy and talk to a guy and help teach it.”
That approach sounds like a mix of new-school and old-school approaches to hitting, and a “feel” is something that this team has seemed to lack in recent years. “It’s not just ‘use the information’, and you don’t have an understanding of what’s going on with the swing,” Mattingly expanded. “They go in conjunction together. You have to have both sides of that these days.”
Overall, the tenor of this year’s post-season press conference was one of understanding where they truly are as a major league club and an organization. They understand their shortcomings and plan on addressing them. Some things will be expedited, like getting a full coaching staff to talk to players before the potential work stoppage on December 1.
Dombrowski was candid that they need to be better in multiple facets of the game, noting that the team only had two above-average offensive players. Both the manager and front office president feel they need to take advantage of their player’s skill sets, namely the speed they possess on the roster, more often.
Mattingly hopes the offense can look closer to how it did in August, when the club ranked in the top five in almost every offensive category.
Other things, like filling the roster with trades and free agent signings, may have to wait. Dombrowski said that, in his experience, because there is so much unknown, he would not expect free agency to heat up before December.
Whether it is an approach to balancing workloads, changes to swings, new defensive looks and tactics, the club has one thing clear so far this off-season: the performance in 2026 was unacceptable. Changes have started; expect more to come.
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