The Philadelphia Phillies’ hard-fought 4-3 win over the Atlanta Braves to level the Wild Card Series came undone in Game 3. A single decision by interim manager Don Mattingly has drawn more scrutiny than others.

With the NLDS at stake, Mattingly decided to start Aaron Nola instead of ace Zack Wheeler in the series finale before Wheeler took over. However, that plan completely backfired as the Phillies’ postseason campaign ended with a 6-2 loss. Meanwhile, analysts are scratching their heads, confused, trying to decode Mattingly’s decision.

“It’s one of those things that they’re going to second-guess from here on out… This is a guy that if you were going to throw him, why not start him right off the bat? God, that’s going to be a thing that Don Mattingly really has to think about,” said Todd Frazier, an analyst and a former MLB player, on Foul Territory.

“But Zach Wheeler, why didn’t he start the game? He’s the guy. He needed him there.” 

Zack Wheeler has delivered in clutch moments for the Phillies.

When Philadelphia needed to win the regular-season finale against the Tampa Bay Rays to secure a postseason berth, Wheeler stepped up. During the 7-3 victory over the Rays, Wheeler allowed only one run on five hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out five.

Thursday’s start would have come on three days’ rest for Wheeler. Mattingly most likely did not want him to start on a short rest, especially with a fully rested Nola in the rotation.

Nola last threw in the penultimate game of the regular season. But that argument about not using Wheeler ultimately proves futile.

Wheeler ended up throwing 4 innings after Aaron Nola’s early exit.

During those 4 innings, he gave up a two-run home run to Ozzie Albies, allowed 3 hits, and 3 walks. However, he did not allow the Braves to score any more runs.

Meanwhile, Nola threw 38 pitches in 1.2 innings and left the mound with the Phillies in a 3-0 gap. With one out, Nola gave up consecutive walks to Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson, loading the bases.

As Nola struggled with throwing strikes, Michael Harris II hit a three-run home run in the next at-bat. Mattingly pulled him with two outs in the second inning after he allowed a single to Dominic Smith.

Notably, Nola took a loss in his last regular-season start, too.

He exited after throwing 21 pitches in a single inning and allowing 3 runs on 4 hits. Despite that shaky outing, Mattingly trusted Nola in the decisive game, and the starter struggled again.

After Game 2, interim manager Don Mattingly had noted, “I’m assuming it’ll be pretty much all hands on deck,” which led to Nola’s 12th career postseason start for the Phillies.

After the game, Mattingly looked distressed during the press meet, while the reporters asked him about considering between Zack and Aaron. The skipper shared that there was enough discussion, and the group felt that Nola had enough rest – 5 days – allowing him the edge over Wheeler. The plan was always to place Nola first, and then bring in Wheeler once the game is deep.

Mattingly admitted that the long ball hurt them the most during the game, while they gave “only six hits or so,” per NBC Sports Philadelphia. The 65-year-old also reiterated that their pitching staff couldn’t get enough rest after the final regular season game, which contributed to the loss.

Discussing the future with the organization, the interim manager was straightforward.

“It’s not the time to talk about anything like that. I’m not concerned about myself in this situation. I want the Phillies to do what they need to do to set themselves up for success. Yeah, I’m not really — it’s like, my stuff doesn’t really matter,” Don Mattingly probably indicated at something.

Now, Bryce Harper and co. have to wait for another year to end their 18-year World Series drought. Harper has also expressed his disappointment about the loss.

Bryce Harper addresses the Phillies’ elimination from playoffs

A Game 3 defeat in the NL Wild Card Series extended the Phillies’ World Series drought since 2008 by one more year. As they came up short in this Series, Bryce Harper did not mince words speaking about their postseason exit.

“You’re here to do business. You’re here to win games, and we didn’t do that,” Harper told the reporters on Thursday, per AP.

The Phillies pushed the Wild Card Series to Game 3 against the Braves, with three late-inning home runs in Game 2. Harper and Schwarber each recorded solo hits in the eighth inning, while Alec Bohm hit the game-winning home run in the ninth.

In Game 3, Braves’ starter Ray Kerr threw 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and one walk to the Phillies. Grant Holmes took the win, as he threw two innings, allowing one earned run on 2 hits.

Meanwhile, Harper went 1-for-4, with a double, but did not score.

Harper’s 13-year, $330 million contract runs through the 2031 season, and he will get a chance to compete in the postseason for the Phillies again. Zack Wheeler, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Aaron Nola are set to come back next season. However, Alec Bohm, Jose Alvarado, Luis Arreaz, and Edmundo Sosa will become free agents at the end of the season.

According to Harper, the team will look different next season.

“Each year’s so different than the year before. I don’t really put stock in years before or what happened or anything else,” Harper said, per Bleacher Report.

“This was a brand new team. Obviously, we had the guys that are part of that core group that we are. I’d imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year with the guys that are leaving this clubhouse. So, we’ll see.”

With their 2026 campaign at an end, the Phillies have some important decisions to make, such as who will be their next manager.

Though nothing is official yet, Alex Cora may fill in the position because he was Dave Dombrowski’s one of the biggest priorities after they fired Rob Thomson following a 9-19 start in April.

Before promoting Mattingly, Dombrowski had offered the job to Cora, whom the Red Sox had fired days ago. But Cora declined back then, yet Philadelphia’s president of baseball operations made his thoughts known:

“I think Alex Cora is one of the finest managers in the game of baseball.”

With the Phillies eliminated and Cora still on the market, Dombrowski will most likely offer the position again to the former Red Sox manager first.