Phillies turn page against Giants, record first shutout win of season in first game since Rob Thomson’s firing

Rob Thomson’s run as Philadelphia Phillies manager started and ended with midseason firings. In June 2022, he took over for Joe Girardi. Nearly four years later, Thomson fell victim to the same early-season fate as his predecessor despite enjoying significantly more success as the Phillies’ skipper.

Unfortunately for Thomson, that success came to a screeching halt this spring. After starting 6-4, Philadelphia unraveled. By the time he was relieved of his managerial duties on Tuesday, the Phillies were tied for MLB’s worst record at 9-19.

They improved to 10-19 hours later, and 1-0 under interim manager Don Mattingly, with a 7-0 win at home in their series opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Mattingly’s promotion marked the first time in MLB history that a father and son have held postions as a club’s manager and general manager. The Phillies’ GM is Don’s son, Preston. The eldest Mattingly is tasked with reinvigorating a bunch that makes up the largest payroll in franchise history.

They played a lot more like they’re worth versus the Giants (13-16), recording their first shutout win of the season.

‘He took the fall today’

Thomson had never managed an MLB game before he replaced Girardi during the 2022 campaign. That season, he went on to lead the Phillies to their first World Series appearance since 2009. In 2023, he oversaw another run to the NLCS. Each of the past two seasons, he guided the club to NL East titles, although those were followed up by premature playoff exits.

Even after this season’s tailspin, his winning percentage (.568) is the second-highest ever recorded by a full-time Phillies manager. It trails only that of Arthur Irwin, who posted a .575 winning percentage from 1894-95. Thomson, or “Topper” as he’s affectionately known by players and fans, took the Phillies to the playoffs every season he was manager.

That streak was already in serious jeopardy this year, though. Philadelphia retained its core, and most of roster as a whole, this past offseason yet has taken a massive step back. Along with their rival New York Mets, the Phillies are National League bottom dwellers after the first month and change of the season.

Bryce Harper, now amid his eighth season in Philadelphia, reflected on that poor start.

“As players, we’re the ones that kind of make those decisions happen, right?” Harper said before Tuesday’s game, per MLB.com. “If we don’t play well or we don’t make things happen, somebody takes the takes the fall — and, you know, he took the fall today.”

The Phillies’ starting rotation, a strength during a 96-win season last year, has struggled to go deep. Their offense has severely underwhelmed, as Philadelphia entered Tuesday’s game with the third-fewest runs scored of any major-league team this year. Mix in some head-scratching defense, and you have a recipe for disaster, which was on full display during the Phillies’ 10-game skid, their longest since 1999.

“It sucks that the players are the ones not playing well, and somebody else has to lose their job for it,” catcher J.T. Realmuto told reporters pregame, according to MLB.com.

Realmuto also said: “Days like today are just somber and unfortunate, because you never want to see somebody who we all liked and enjoyed go through what Rob’s having to go through right now.

“You feel a little bit of accountability and you just feel bad for not playing well enough for him.”

Dave Dombrowski tried to hire recently fired Red Sox manager Alex Cora to replace Thomson

Mattingly, a six-time All-Star for the New York Yankees during his playing days, has previously served as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers (2011-15) and the Miami Marlins (2016-22). For now, he’s got the Phillies’ lineup card.

But the club’s president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, admitted Tuesday that he first tried to hire recently fired Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora as Thomson’s replacement.

Cora was in charge of the Red Sox’s clubhouse from 2018-19 and 2021-26. Boston moved on from him and a collection of his staffers on Saturday. Dombrowski was the Red Sox’s president of baseball operations from 2015-19 and hired Cora for his first managerial stint there. He said he talked to Cora on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

“We talked about potentially taking the job,” Dombrowski said. “I had told him I had really come to the conclusion at that point that if he took it, I was going to make a change.

“I thought that he might take it, but as time went on over the next day into Monday morning, it was apparent from his perspective that he wanted to take time with his family.”

Dombrowski added: “It wasn’t because he’s paid through the next year. But he just felt that he wanted, at this point, to be a father first and foremost. And, so, that’s what he had decided.”

In that same news conference, Dombrowski discussed Thomson’s impact on the organization and the city of Philadelphia, as well as the fact that he thought about offering him a special assistant position with the club right away.

“I’m sure when he comes back, he’ll get a deserved standing ovation from the fans,” Dombrowski, a two-time World Series champion executive, said. “He’s a wonderful person, done a lot, works hard, very conscientious. But I think, at this time, I felt that we needed a new voice in there, a little different feeling in the clubhouse.”

Rob Thomson open to staying with Phillies in some capacity

Thomson also spoke to media on Tuesday, in the wake of his dismissal. He fielded questions, took accountability and didn’t seem offended by Dombrowski talking with Cora before the change.

Thompson’s love for the Phillies and Philadelphia appears unwavering, so much so that he is, in fact, interested in sticking around.

“I wasn’t officially offered anything,” Thomson told reporters Tuesday over Zoom,” via 97.5 The Fanatic. “But I am open to staying in this organization. I’ve said throughout my four years as manager here, I don’t want to go anywhere else. I love this organization.

“I’ve been treated with class and dignity the last eight years, ever since I came here.”

Thomson noted: “I would seriously entertain staying with the organization. Maybe right now isn’t the right time, maybe give it a little bit of a break here. But, yeah, I’m all in on that.”

Thomson insisted that he’d be watching the Phillies take on the Giants Tuesday night. They won for just the second time in 15 days.