Bryce Harper Declines to Say Whether He Wants Mattingly Back

ATLANTA — Bryce Harper declined to say whether he wanted Don Mattingly back as Phillies manager after Philadelphia’s season ended with a 6–2 loss to Atlanta in Wild Card Game 3 Thursday night.

Asked whether he wanted Mattingly to return next season, Harper said, “I don’t want to answer that question.” The exchange came in his postgame interview with reporters.

Schwarber on Mattingly

Kyle Schwarber praised Mattingly’s approach after the loss.

“Even when things got hard, the way that he was able to keep things at even-keel pace for us. I think that was huge,” Schwarber said in postgame footage posted by NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Mattingly on his future

Mattingly said in his postgame news conference that he had not discussed his future with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“If you don’t win the last game, it’s a crash landing no matter what,” Mattingly said.

He said the Phillies considered starting Zack Wheeler but chose Aaron Nola on regular rest, with Wheeler available afterward. Nola allowed three runs in 1⅔ innings, including Michael Harris II’s first-inning three-run homer. Wheeler entered in the third and allowed two runs in four innings.

Mattingly said he wanted what was best for the Phillies.

“I’m comfortable with whatever they want to do,” he said.