Time for a Change? 28 Games in, Phillies’ Manager Rob Thomson on Hot Seat Amid Struggles

The next 12 hours are crucial.

The struggling Phillies have a much-needed day off on Monday, and ever since the Phillies dropped the final game of the Braves series to worsen their record to a pitiful 9-19, the rumor mill surrounding Phillies’ manager Rob Thomson has gone from simmering to boiling. Many are calling for the Phillies’ manager’s firing, while others are defending him, claiming his options are limited with the cards he has been dealt.

Nevertheless, the Phillies have faced a plethora of struggles over the last two weeks, now having lost 11 of their last 12 games. In fact, their ten-game losing streak that lingered until Saturday’s extra-inning victory was the organization’s longest of the twenty-first century.

During this rough patch, there’s no doubt that all 26 guys, in addition to the coaching staff, hold some level of responsibility. The Phillies’ .656 team OPS and .219 batting average are both the second-lowest among offenses in all of Major League Baseball. Despite these numbers, the manager is still the face of the team, and of course, an easy scapegoat.

While Thomson has undoubtedly made some mistakes, most notably keeping a struggling Trea Turner in the leadoff spot, it’s still unfair to pin poor player performances on the manager. No one has proven capable of hitting well with runners in scoring position from the cleanup hole, and Thomson surely can’t make the plays the Phillies’ defense typically botches. With the third-most errors in the National League, it’s no exaggeration to say that the Phillies have been handing out runs for free. And with a struggling offense and pitching staff that has the third-highest ERA in baseball, the Phils simply cannot compensate for defensive miscues.

This said, something has to change. When the players failed to perform in 2022, canning then-manager Joe Girardi and bringing in Thomson was exactly the change the Phillies needed. Interestingly, the circumstances in 2022 were eerily similar. In fact, when Girardi was fired on June 3, the Phillies had a 22-29 record, just better than their current standing. At the time, it was some questionable bullpen moves centered around Corey Knebel and Jeurys Familia that raised initial concerns around Girardi. And to make matters worse for the long-time skipper, his 2021 season with the Phillies was beyond underwhelming.

In 2015, however, the circumstances were actually quite different. The Phillies, then managed by Ryne Sandberg, had the worst record in baseball at the end of June. With front-office executive Andy MacPhail nearing his onboarding date with the organization, it was known that new management would take over, both in the front office and in the dugout. Prior to the rumors about a shakeup, Sandberg was known to have public clashes with players, including stars Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard. Seeing his fate not far in front of him, Sandberg stepped down as the manager on Friday, June 26, during a press conference with then-General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr.

Given his popularity among the players, it is hard to imagine Thomson stepping down. He has always prided himself on managing the team in a way that has the players’ backs, so a resignation would be uncharacteristic for Thomson. During his postgame interview Sunday, Thomson sported his usual calm and collected demeanor, even when asked about the rumors surrounding his job security.

“Well, I mean, that’s natural, right? It’s normal,” Thomson said Sunday. “And I’ve never worried about that in my entire career. I worked for a guy for 28 years [Yankees owner George Steinbrenner] who, as the ‘Seinfeld’ episode will tell you, ‘Fires people like it’s a bodily function,’ and it never bothered me. It didn’t. I don’t have time to think about it. I’m a person that thinks about other people and what can I do to help them. And it’s out of my control. So that’s where I’m at.”

Some may argue that Thomson was too collected, possibly inflecting this attitude on the players.

In his postgame interview with the media, Aaron Nola was as monotone as ever. He even claimed to have located his fastball well, while Thomson told the media just a few minutes earlier that Nola’s struggles “just come down to fastball command.”

Clearly, a disconnect exists. Somewhere within the coaching staff, information is not being conveyed to the players. If Nola’s fastball was abnormal and the coaches failed to communicate that to him at some point in his 4.2 innings of work, then a larger problem certainly exists, and that’s where we may see a change.

Kyle Schwarber, the voice of the clubhouse, says the Phillies have the right guys to right the ship.

“The desires here,” Schwarber said Sunday. “There’s no non-desire, I’d say. I feel like we have the right people here, and we got the right people to figure it out. … It’s not like it’s saying that we think a change is needed. You feel as a player, you feel responsible for that, where we’re the ones who are out there … All of our coaches are here to support, and they’ll put us in the best positions that we can. Even though we’ve been not playing to what we feel like we should be playing at, that hasn’t changed their atttude towards us and that, they try to come in on a daily basis to contue to get us better and put us in great positions to succeed.”

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If Dave Dombrowski does end up using his day off to make a managerial change, despite saying less than a week ago that Thomson’s job is not in jeopardy, the Phillies certainly have options. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham and hitting coach Kevin Long are both highly respected coaches around the league. Third base coach Dusty Wathan has not only managed the Lehigh Valley IronPigs but has also interviewed and been considered for multiple manager positions at the major-league level. And of course, Don Mattingly, the Phillies’ new bench coach for 2026, has ample experience at the helm of a team, having served a combined 12 years as manager between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins.

If the Phillies choose to go externally (very unlikely) and want to really stir the pot (even more unlikely), Dombrowski could turn to his old friend Alex Cora, who was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night. Interestingly, Cora and Dombrowski have bona fide success, having worked together during the Red Sox’s championship run in 2018.

If Thomson goes, his staff may, too. He’s sticking by his guys. Why?

“Because they’re good coaches,” Thomson answered. “Kevin [Long’s] one of the best in the game. There’s a couple Hall of Famers out there that will tell you that. So, I’m all on board with them.”

Regardless of how this plays out, all eyes will remain on Thomson for the next few weeks. This team has come with high expectations ever since their historic run to the World Series in 2022, and now, that also comes with an expiration date that is quickly approaching. As veterans slow down, the next generation of the Phillies’ core is failing to step up, and it may just be time for a new voice in the clubhouse.

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