Joe Girardi OUT as the Philadelphia Phillies manager
According to reports, the Philadelphia Phillies have fired manager Joe Girardi.
In three seasons with the Phillies, Girardi wasn’t able to move the needle for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in a decade, finishing with a 132-141 record as manager.
Bench coach Rob Thomson has been named interim manager for the club through the end of the 2022 season. In addition, coaching assistant Bobby Meacham was also relieved of his duties.
Dave Dombrowski on firing Joe Girardi
“It has been a frustrating season for us up until this point, as we feel that our club has not played up to its capabilities. While all of us share the responsibility for the shortcomings, I felt that a change was needed and that a new voice in the clubhouse would give us the best chance to turn things around. I believe we have a talented group that can get back on track, and I am confident that Rob, which his experience and familiarity with our club, is the right man to lead us going forward.”
Thomson will become the 56th manager in franchise history and has served as the Phillies bench coach for the last five seasons. He previously spent 28 years in the New York Yankees organization from 1990-2017. He was the Yankees bench coach in 2008, 2015-2017 and the third base coach from 2009-2014. Prior to the Yankees, Thomson was spent two seasons as a coach in the Detroit Tigers minor league system.
This season, the Phillies are 22-29 and haven’t been able to live up to expectations after exceeding the luxury tax during the offseason. They sit 12 games back in the National League East to the New York Mets. After avoiding the sweep and winning 6-5 against the Giants on Wednesday, the Phillies will open up a weekend series with the Los Angeles Angels tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
More to come….
GM should have fired himself next……this is a defective roster with at least 9 games lost in late innings because of poor bullpen….31-20 would look much better……