Phillies Make Right Move by Firing Manager Rob Thomson After Slow Start

Did the Philadelphia Phillies make the right move by firing Rob Thomson?

Apr 7, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (49) walks off the mound during the fifth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. | Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies have made a bold decision 28 games into the season, but it could be what was needed for the team to turn things around. 

This season has started off incredibly poorly for the Phillies. Through 28 games, they have a 9-19 record, and the team has the worst run differential in the league. For a team with the caliber of players that Philadelphia has, this has been a shockingly poor start. 

While there are a lot of things going wrong for the team, they clearly needed to make some changes, and the first major one has happened with the firing of manager Rob Thomson. This was a move that certainly doesn’t come as too much of a surprise based on the struggles, and the team elected to go in that direction before their series started against the San Francisco Giants. 

Now, taking over for Thomson will be veteran manager and coach Don Mattingly. Even though the Phillies have had success with Thomson, this feels like it was the right thing to do based on the poor start. 

Phillies Make Right Move

Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson | David Banks-Imagn Images

Even though roster construction can be blamed for the struggles of the team as well, moving on from Thomson at this point to create some sort of spark makes sense. The Phillies had the veteran coach take over in 2022, and it helped create a spark for the team that year. 

Joe Girardi was fired after a 22-29 start to the campaign in 2022, with Thomson coming in and leading the team to the World Series. Even though they came up short against the Houston Astros, it was the type of turnaround the team was looking for with the move. 

Furthermore, Thomson was able to then win at least 90 games with the Phillies for three straight years. However, while the team might have been great in the regular season, they did ultimately fall short in the postseason most years. 

In both 2024 and 2025, they were eliminated in the NLDS by the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers in back-to-back years. Winning just two playoff games in that span was a tough look for a team that was expected to be in the World Series conversation. 

While there were a lot of wins with Thomson, it feels right for the team to move on at this point. With playoff struggles the last two seasons and a slow start to this campaign, the time to move on was now.