Rob Thomson
In his three seasons as manager of the Phillies, Rob Thomson has shown to be quite successful with his moves and decisions within the game. After all, he has led the team to three straight postseason appearances, while coming close to a World Series title in 2022 as well.
But with his deployment of closer Craig Kimbrel last postseason that may have essentially done the Phillies in, it just showed that not everyone can be perfect at all times.
Unfortunately, some of that misjudgment carried over into the 2024 season, as Thomson made some questionable calls over the course of the year. The most prominent one being the continued use of Taijuan Walker in the rotation despite his obvious ongoing struggles throughout the season.
When he finally relegated Walker to the bullpen, the damage was already done, and it was enough to prevent the Phillies from finishing first in the league to get a more favorable matchup in the playoffs. In addition, not resting Harper enough down the stretch when he had an apparent nagging injury ultimately limited his effectiveness in the end.
More significantly, Thomson made some key mistakes during the NLDS, in particular during the Game 4 elimination. Looking back, if he had the chance to redo some of his decisions, there’s no doubt he would have done things differently.
The good thing is that Thomson is a smart man and should be able to learn from the things that did not work and make sure he won’t repeat them again in the future. The bad part is that 2024 is already over for the Phillies, so he won’t have his chance for redemption until the very next year.