Phillies' Three Biggest Mistakes Since Making the 2022 World Series

After the Phillies' firing of manager Rob Thomson, let's examine a few of the club's biggest missteps since winning the pennant in Thomson’s debut season.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has enjoyed a largely successful tenure, but he deserves his fair share of the blame for the club's 2026 struggles. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Phillies ripped the Band-Aid off Tuesday, firing manager Rob Thomson on the heels of an abysmal 9–19 start. Weighed down by one of MLB's worst lineups by runs scored and a starting pitching staff with the worst ERA in the sport, they simply had to make a move. And unfortunately for Thomson, axing the manager was the only available button to press with trades seldom made at this time of the year.

And while Thomson isn't blameless, neither is president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski has enjoyed a largely successful career as Philadelphia's chief decision-maker, as he's rebuilt the club's stagnant farm system while returning the Phillies to being perennial winners in the National League.

However, Dombrowski decided to largely stick with the same core that powered the club to the World Series four years ago on the heels of then-manager Joe Girardi's firing—and Thomson's promotion—and have yet to reach the same heights since.

A few key missteps by the Phillies have led them to this point.

1. Attempting to improve the outfield at the margins

Nick Castellanos signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies ahead of the 2022 season. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Once it became clear that two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper, who had suffered what eventually escalated to a UCL tear back in 2022, was no longer an option in the outfield, Philadelphia shifted then-outfielder Nick Castellanos to right to take over for Harper.

A game of musical chairs then began in the outfield around Castellanos, who himself produced just 1.1 WAR over his four seasons in Philadelphia. First, the Phillies moved slugger Kyle Schwarber permanently to the designated hitter spot in 2024 after he was arguably the worst defensive left fielder in the business in '23. That meant that promising youngster Johan Rojas saw the lion's share of the playing time in center for Philadelphia in '24. Rojas, while a strong defender who added the element of speed to the club's lineup, was an abysmal hitter who posted just a 67 OPS+ in 120 games, meaning he was 33% worse than what a league average hitter would have produced.

When it was clear that Rojas's defense and speed weren't worth what he was providing as a full-time member of the lineup, the Phillies opted to move outfielder Brandon Marsh back from left field to center field. Then, instead of bringing in an impact bat via free agency, Philadelphia signed Max Kepler, whose bat was clearly declining for the Twins the previous season. Worse still, the Phillies seemingly gave Kepler, a slugger with platoon splits heavily favoring right-handed pitching, the impression that he was going to get his chances to be the everyday left fielder. Instead, he was rightfully utilized as a platoon left fielder by Thomson largely against righties, resulting in a disgruntled Kepler.

Before bringing in Kepler, the Phillies had checked in on other options that offseason, such as Teoscar Hernandez, and reportedly even a trade for then-Houston Astro Kyle Tucker. Kepler ended up producing an 89 OPS+, meaning he was barely an upgrade over Rojas, whom he was essentially replacing in the lineup.

With the struggling Castellanos all but out of the picture this past December, the Phillies went searching for alternatives in right field, settling on former American League Championship Series MVP Adolis García, even though his OPS had dipped in each of the previous two seasons. García has somewhat predictably scuffled at the plate in 2026 and is one of several underperformers in Philadelphia's lineup.

To be fair to Dombrowski, Hernandez was likely always returning to the Dodgers on the heels of winning the World Series in 2024, and outside of García, there were few impact outfielders that wouldn't have cost Philadelphia a pretty penny, such as Tucker or Cody Bellinger.

But repetedly entering multiple offseasons with the same need in the outfield reflects poorly on Dombrowski.

2. Thomson's shaky strategy in the postseason

The Phillies lost the 2025 NLDS to the Dodgers, three games to one, despite outscoring them 15–13. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

By any measure, Thomson is one of the best managers the Phillies have ever employed, as he and Charlie Manuel are the only two skippers in club history to lead the team to four straight postseason appearances. Thomson's clubs won roughly 56% of the games they played, meaning Phillies fans will largely remember Thomson for his successes.

But a few of his mistakes, particularly in the postseason, also contributed to the Phillies' inability to get back to the Fall Classic.

2A. Leaving Craig Kimbrel in too long in Game 4 of the 2023 NLCS vs. Diamondbacks

While it's fair to say that Thomson may not have had many better options to turn to in high-leverage spots in the Phillies' eventual loss to the Diamondbacks in 2023, one could certainly do worse than one of the greatest closers of all time in Craig Kimbrel. But Thomson's faith in Kimbrel, particularly on the heels of his meltdown in Game 3 of th NLCS, may have cost the Phillies.

Thomson turned to Kimbrel again in Game 4 with the Phillies up 5-3. Kimbrel promptly allowed a double, then got a lineout before facing Alek Thomas, whom the Diamondbacks had called upon as a pinch-hitter. Kimbrel then served up the game-tying home run to Thomas.

Thomson, even after seeing Kimbrel blow the lead, stuck with the struggling righthander, who after getting the second out of the inning on a strikeout, yielded a single and hit a batter.

Thomson then removed Kimbrel from the game and inserted Jose Alvarado, who was unable to clean up the mess left behind by Kimbrel. Alvarado surrendered an RBI single and the lead to Arizona, one they would not relinquish. Thomson maybe shouldn't have gone to Kimbrel in that spot in the first place, but his bigger mistake was leaving him in the game after he’d already surrendered the lead, as it created a difficult situation for Alvarado to attempt to work out of.

2B. Benching Bryson Stott in Game 3 of the 2024 NLDS vs. Mets

Stott had played the role of hero in Game 2, coming up with a massive, two-run triple off of then-Mets closer Edwin Diaz to give Philadelphia the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.

But the lefty-swinging Stott was left on the bench in Game 3 with Mets southpaw Sean Manaea on the mound. Thomson at the time cited righty-swinging Edmundo Sosa's career numbers vs. Manaea, but Stott had collected three hits, including a homer, in seven career at-bats against the Mets lefty heading into the game.

While Sosa went 1-for-2 with a single and a run scored in the Phillies' loss, it's fair to wonder if Thomson should have ignored the platoon split in favor of keeping Stott's hot bat in the lineup over Sosa's, or the struggling Alec Bohm, who went on to go 1-for-4 in the loss. We'll never know if Thomson himself made this call or if it was an analytics-inspired move. But unfortunately, Thomson as the manager had to wear the decision, and it's one that didn't age well.

2C. Instructing Stott to bunt in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the 2025 NLDS vs. Dodgers

The Phillies, already down a game in the series, entered the ninth inning trailing the defending-champion Dodgers 4-1. But Philadelphia began to rally, starting with a single from Bohm and a double from catcher J.T. Realmuto. Castellanos then laced a double to left that scored both Bohm and Castellanos to bring Philadelphia within one run of tying the game.

With the tying run at second, the lefty-swinging Stott stepped up to the plate with no outs in the inning. Even with a slow baserunner in the form of Castellanos, a grounder to the right side of the infield or a fly ball likely would have moved the veteran outfielder to third. There were plenty of reasons to let Stott swing away. But Thomson, looking to manufacture the tying run with small ball, instructed Stott to bunt.

Stott laid down a bunt up the third-base line but the Dodgers, who perfectly executed a wheel play, threw out Castellanos at third for the first out of the inning. The decision stung even more when pinch-hitter Harrison Bader singled in the ensuing at-bat. It's fair to wonder if the Phillies would have managed to defeat the Dodgers in the series. But any possibility of that happening was all but eliminated when the Phillies' rally was extinguished and they lost the game to fall into a 2-0 hole. The decision to bunt loomed large.

3. Phillies' inability to land a middle-of-the-order bat for 2026 season

Phillies infielder Alec Bohm has utterly failed as the team's cleanup hitter. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Phillies' lineup has featured far too much swing-and-miss and simply hasn't produced this season, especially with runners in scoring position. In other words, the Phillies simply haven't hit. But digging even deeper, they've really struggled from the cleanup spot, prompting Dombrowski to admit a week ago that the club “really doesn't have a No. 4 hitter at this time.”

Third baseman Alec Bohm was expected to man the cleanup spot but has barreled up just one ball this season and owns a measly OPS+ of 15. Then, Thomson turned to García, who wasn't much better. The result has been the second-worst OPS output in the majors out of the cleanup slot.

And this after Harper had pointed to the Phillies' subpar production out of the cleanup spot heading into the year. Such struggles forced Thomson to turn to Felix Reyes, who was in the minors to start the year, in the fourth spot in the batting order last week. Hardly ideal for a team that entered the season with championship aspirations.

And while it may not be fair to blame Dombrowski for free agent Bo Bichette spurning the Phillies for the Mets' last-minute contract offer, the whiff on Bichette also presented the Phillies executive with another chance to address the cleanup spot through free agency or a trade, which he ultimately did not do.

It's another example of the same roster construction problems plaguing the Phillies, as they haven't gotten solid production out of the cleanup spot in three years.

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