Phillies scapegoats: 1 to fire, 1 to put on the hot seat, 1 to be patient with
After setting the baseball world on fire and coming just two wins shy of a World Series title, the Philadelphia Phillies have gotten off to a very slow start in 2023. At 25-28 the Phillies are 6.5 games back of the first place Braves in the National League East, and have been among the most disappointing teams in all of baseball.
I get it. Bryce Harper missed substantial time, Ranger Suarez finally came back, Rhys Hoskins is done for the year, but this team should be much better than they are.
There's still plenty of season left, and as we saw last season anything can change in an eyeblink, but that doesn't excuse fans from wanting change. If this season continues to get out of hand, changes might just be made with Philies personnel.
Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham should be fired
While the Phillies offense has certainly underperformed relative to expectations, there're reasons to believe that group will bounce back. Eventually guys like Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, and Kyle Schwarber will find their consistent swings, and once that happens, they'll be just fine on that end.
Kevin Long is one of baseball's best and most-proven hitting coaches out there, he shouldn't be going anywhere. One who should go somewhere is pitching coach Caleb Cotham.
It's obviously not all his fault, but who outside of Matt Strahm and Jose Alvarado has pitched better than the backs of their baseball cards might indicate? The staff is supposed to be led by Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, both of whom have had down years. Nola especially has been mostly dreadful for the Phillies.
Taijuan Walker has been better of late but has been a massive disappointment in his first season with the club, posting an ERA of 5.57. Ranger Suarez since returning from the IL has an ERA approaching 10.00 in his three starts. Bailey Falter was so terrible to the point where he was sent down to the minors. The rotation was supposed to be a huge strength for this team, but they have a 5.02 ERA as a group.
While Craig Kimbrel and Gregory Soto have been mostly victimized by some brutal outings, they both have ERA's approaching 6.00. The bullpen has been better than the starters have, but they're far from perfect also.
The Phillies have never been above average in staff ERA under Cotham and while some of that is on Dombrowski for not giving him great pieces, the staff is more talented this season than it has been in the other two years of Cotham's tenure, yet their staff ERA is the highest its ever been.
It's unfair to blame only Cotham, but he's an easy scapegoat. If the pitching doesn't improve, he needs to go. Something has to change.
Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Dave Dombrowski should be on the hot seat
It's not all Dave Dombrowski's fault that this team has underperformed, but he's not exactly blameless either. Most of the offseason moves he made haven't worked out in the way he or Phillies fans imagined they would.
The Taijuan Walker signing has been disastrous so far. Walker, a pitcher who is usually way more effective in first halves than seconds, has a 5.57 ERA through his first 11 starts. This isn't enough time to call the contract a complete bust, but Walker has been an abysmal investment thus far.
While Kimbrel and Soto have been victimized by awful outings sandwiching mostly good ones, they haven't been great out of the bullpen. Dombrowski was preparing for Bailey Falter to be his fifth starter and Falter responded by pitching horribly.
While Trea Turner should get going eventually, he's been dreadful in year one of a $300 million deal. Guys like Edmundo Sosa, Josh Harrison, and Jake Cave who made the Opening Day roster have OPS figures below .700. Harrison is below .500, and Cave is in the minor leagues.
It's not Dombrowski's fault that a lot of the players who are supposed to be good have underperformed, but the players he's brought in haven't exactly lit the world on fire. I still have confidence in Trea Turner's ability to turn his season around, but there're a bunch of pitchers we'd rather see over Taijuan Walker.
Philadelphia Phillies fans should be patient with manager Rob Thomson
Rob Thomson doesn't go blameless here. When a team that just went to the World Series the season prior is sitting under .500 two months into the season, he deserves some blame. It's his job to get his guys to perform, and this hasn't happened yet.
While that's certainly the case, how much blame can you really place on this guy? Is it his fault that his back-end relievers have struggled? Is it his fault Kyle Schwarber isn't hitting .170? He's playing with the cards he was dealt, and I'm not sure what the solution is.
It's not like Schwarber is leading off every day. Is he supposed to move Trea Turner down? Maybe, but will that really change anything?
Thomson coming in changed everything in 2022. He played the kids more, and the team really took off immediately. If this was guaranteed to happen every season, no manager would ever last more than one year.
Thomson played a huge role in their success last season, and isn't actively losing games for the Phillies this season. Until that happens, fans should be more patient with him than they should be with Cotham and Dombrowski.
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