The Phillies already decided they wanted Rob Thomson back, according to several confirmed reports earlier this week.
But is that the right decision for the team?
For the next few weeks at PhillyVoice, you're going to help us play GM. We'll take a look at the players (and in this case, the coach) and lay out some of the arguments and logistical reasons they should or shouldn't be back with the Phillies for 2026.
After yet another spectacularly successful regular season and equally spectacular early exit, the Phillies can't possibly just run it entirely back yet again for another season. They have to make some changes.
Should Thomson really be back in the dugout next spring?
Why he should stay
He wins games
Thomson is literally the best regular-season manager ever in Phillies' franchise history with a .580 win percentage. He trusts his veteran players during the spring and summer and is able to play the large numbers game to get the best out of them. An objective observer, who is only looking at his on-field accomplishments as manager in contrast to other skippers out there, would probably be in favor of extending Thomson — who will as of now be coaching as a lame duck in 2026.
He gives them a chance
In all four years of his tenure in Philly, Thomson has qualified the Phillies for the postseason. Only the Dodgers have a longer active streak. He clearly knows baseball — maybe a little too much, as we'll get into later.
He's a player's manager
The Phillies' players love playing for Thomson, who earned the moniker "Philly Rob" when he led the Phillies to the World Series in 2022. Embodying the blue collar work ethic of Philly, the clubhouse reflects that mentality as well and on paper it would be hard to find a man better suited for managing this group of players.
- Phillies stay or go series
Rob Thomson | Dave Dombrowski | Kyle Schwarber | Ranger Suárez | J.T. Realmuto | Nick Castellanos | Harrison Bader | Alec Bohm | Max Kepler | Walker Buehler | Taijuan Walker | Jordan Romano, David Robertson, José Alvarado | Rafael Marchán, Weston Wilson, Edmundo Sosa, Otto Kemp
He isn't the one playing the games
It's an argument as old as time. Thomson didn't go 1-for-18, Nick Castellanos did. Thomson didn't walk Mookie Betts, Jhoan Duran did. It's Thomson and the rest of the coaching staff's job to try and put the players in the best position they can be to win in the postseason.
Thomson believes he did that, and while many of his choices turned out to be wrong ones, they could have just as easily worked out. The Dodgers might not have been able to field the Game 2 bunt as well as they did. David Robertson could have come out firing on all cylinders for his second inning in Game 1. The only reason these choices are being criticized is because the players subsequently failed after they were made.
Why he should go
Postseason failures
These have been well documented:
- Sending Robertson back out for another inning in Game 1 when some of the team's best pitchers were ready to go.
- The disastrous decision to have Bryson Stott bunt with no outs and a runner on second, trailing by a run in the ninth inning in Game 2.
- Walking Shohei Ohtani, who had just one hit in the entire series in Game 4 to face Betts with the bases loaded.
- Taking Jesús Luzardo out of Game 4 in extra innings for Orion Kerkering, who threw the game away with his errant throw home with the bases loaded and two out.
Over-managing
A different sort of Rob Thomson comes out in the postseason and it's hurt the Phillies the last few seasons. While he trusts his players in the regular season and gives them a lot of leash, Thomson micro-manages when the spotlight is on. The Phillies' roster was built around power and home runs. They sacrifice bunted 16 times during the regular season — less than 0.1 sac bunts per game. And yet he called on them to do it in a pivotal ninth inning in the postseason.
The window is closing
It's not particularly clear what kind of alternative is out there, and clearly the Phillies decided they like Thomson better than whomever might replace him, but the Phils aren't getting any younger. One of the biggest arguments in favor of his dismissal is that perhaps a different approach is needed to get this team across the finish line, after four years of Thomson's managing style. Almost all of the team's stars are north of 30 and decline is going to set in. The time to win was yesterday.
In need of some sort of shakeup
The Phillies absolutely, positively need to change something. And the manager is easier to change than the players.
Of the 26 players on the Phils' postseason roster, 20 of them are under contract for 2026. The six players slated to be free agents are Kyle Schwarber, Ranger Suárez, J.T. Realmuto, Max Kepler, Tim Mayza, Walker Buehler and David Robertson. The first three the Phillies will desperately want back and are almost irreplaceable. You can't upgrade at DH, and it would be hard to find a catcher better than Realmuto. And the second three, replacing them won't create all that much of a shakeup.
Over the next few weeks we'll look at how the team can try to shake itself up, but player movement is going to be hard. Finding someone to take Castellanos and his $20 million 2026 salary will be quite the task. Finding a replacement for Alec Bohm will not be easy either. But the Phillies have decided they like Thomson's approach and it'll be back for 2026.
Do you agree with their decision?
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