Rob Thomson takes responsibility for NLCS failure, but how much blame should he take?
Rob Thomson says he's "accountable for everything." But does the Phillies manager deserve all the blame for the NLCS failure?
In the midst of the NLCS collapse by the Philadelphia Phillies, there were some questionable calls and decisions made by manager Rob Thomson in terms of how he managed his lineup and the pitching.
How much did these decisions affect the overall outcome, and should Thomson receive all the blame as a result of the team’s failure to advance?
Game 3: Bringing in rookie Orion Kerkering in a high-leverage situation
After the Phillies managed to scratch home a run in the top half of the seventh inning to lead 1-0, Thomson brought in rookie pitcher Orion Kerkering to face the 5-6-7 hitters of the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup. Kerkering would end up cracking in the moment and promptly gave up the tying run after facing two batters.
Thomson was scrutinized for bringing in a rookie with a lack of experience into an intense, stressful situation when they had plenty of experienced options such as José Alvarado available in the pen.
Kerkering had success against the same part of the order in Game 2, so had the manager’s hunch been spot on, Kerkering could have easily put the Diamondbacks away again in Game 3. Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t pay off. In hindsight, Thomson should have gone with what was more logical in that situation rather than his gut feeling, so he should get some of the blame on this one.
Game 4: Bringing Craig Kimbrel into the game after struggling the previous night
After giving up the winning run and struggling to get hitters out in Game 3, Thomson went right back to Craig Kimbrel in Game 4. This time in the eighth inning with the Phillies up 5-3. Kimbrel gave up the game-tying home run to Alek Thomas and allowed two more runners to get on base, one of which would end up scoring the winning run for the Diamondbacks.
In this case, the blame shouldn’t be totally on Thomson.
There are often times when elite MLB closers struggle and blow a game, but they come back again the next time and are dominant. If every time a closer struggled one game, and they quickly lost their chance to close the next time, there wouldn’t be any dominant star closers in the game as a result.
In this case, Kimbrel has an elite track record of being one of the best in the game, so there’s nothing wrong with Thomson going back to Kimbrel to give him a chance to redeem himself the very next night.
NEXT: Thomson's crucial decisions in Games 6 and 7
Game 6: Leaving Aaron Nola in the game too long
In Game 6, when starter Aaron Nola showed early signs that he didn’t have his best stuff after giving up hard contact in the second inning, leading to three runs, many of the Phillies’ faithful believed that he shouldn’t have gone into the fifth inning to see the Diamondbacks’ order for a third time. They scored another run off of Nola before he finally exited the game.
In this situation, Thomson again shouldn’t get all the blame. The three runs Nola gave up in the second already happened, and he pitched two stronger innings following that frame. He just encountered his struggles once again in the fifth and yielded the fourth run to the Diamondbacks.
The Phillies couldn’t muster any offense, so even if Thomson had taken out Nola earlier, the only difference would be one less run on the scoreboard, which wouldn’t have made a difference in the end.
Game 7: Leaving Ranger Suárez in the game too long and not pinch-hitting Johan Rojas with the bases loaded
In Game 7, many thought starter Ranger Suárez was left in the game too long to see the Diamondbacks lineup a third time, just like Nola from Game 6. He ended up giving up the tying run before leaving the game at 2-2, while one of his inherited runners ended up scoring the Diamondbacks' game-winning run.
One has to recall that Suárez had been one of the Phillies' most dominant postseason pitchers to date. Added to the fact that he had only given up one run on five hits through four innings with no walks, five strikeouts and a low pitch count, he still had everything in control. It was just unfortunate that the Diamondbacks finally got to him. But remember there were already two outs when it happened, so with one pitch that could have gone his way, the whole game would have been different. So once again, Thomson shouldn’t get the blame for this one.
As for Johan Rojas, he came up to the plate with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fourth after the Phillies scored to go up 2-1 and had all the momentum.
With Rojas struggling to hit for most of the postseason, many thought that was the perfect time to bring in a pinch-hitter and put the game away. At the same time, no one on the Phillies bench could play defense at the level of Rojas, so if he was taken out that early in the game, it could potentially hurt them defensively later on. As a result, Thomson stuck with Rojas, and as most expected, Rojas struck out to end the rally.
So, for this one, Thomson should get part of the blame. As much as the Phillies needed to maintain solid defense, with their inability to put runs on the scoreboard during both Games 6 and 7, they needed to capitalize on that chance to put the game away with a big hit.
NEXT: The verdict! Plus, Thomson accepts the blame
What’s the verdict? Did Rob Thomson cost the Phillies the chance to get to the World Series?
Looking back to all of the situations mentioned above, there were a couple of times Thomson’s decision affected the outcome of the game. However, the bulk of his calls logically would have been the right call at the time, just that, unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way they wanted.
At the same time, if the Phillies could have provided enough supplemental offense to help back it up, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation in the first place.
In the Phillies' end-of-season media presser, Thomson reflected on his calls and decision-making during the playoffs and took accountability for his team's failure to reach the World Series.
"It’s difficult, you know? There’s a lot of reflection … it’s very disappointing to me and I’m accountable for everything that goes on around here," Thomson said. "There were a lot of decisions being made bullpen-wise, there are some things there that I would’ve wanted to change.
"The lineup situation, there’s some things there that I maybe I need to be a little bit more adaptable. But every decision I make, there’s always a reason. Now, was the reason correct? Those are things I reflect on."
Thomson would go on to elaborate about the lineup situation and how he had put in careful thought to it each time, even after the game was over.
"Both the moving people around, pinch-hitting, all of those things. I reflect on almost everything on a nightly basis," he said. "After the series was over, I go back, work through each game, and try to figure out, okay, where could we have done some things differently?
"Even things that went well, you’re going back and thinking, okay, was that really the right move? Because that could’ve backfired."
With Thomson opening up and taking on the full blame for the Phillies’ failure to reach the World Series, he's the kind of manager the players and the organization will definitely stand behind, win or lose.
As a result, Thomson shouldn’t shoulder all the blame. After all, it's a team game. When your leader sticks up for the whole team, the entire team and organization should bear whatever positives and negatives come out of it together.
But one thing is for certain: Thomson will be back with the Phillies at least for another year, as he exclaimed that he “absolutely” could see himself in Philadelphia beyond next season. Hopefully, at that time, he and the Phillies can redeem themselves with a more successful postseason run.
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