Rob Thomson sanding the edges off a problem that looks a lot uglier in real time. Saying the Phillies are “trying to do too much” and that they are frustrated isn’t wrong. It’s also not useful. The Phillies got shut out in back-to-back games by the Giants and went scoreless for 20 straight innings during a 6-6 start that has already put them chasing in the NL East.
That is a real early warning sign, and Thomson talking about it like a passing mood swing makes him sound a little too comfortable with what many can see is broken.
The Phillies are too talented of a team to be reduced to manager-speak this quickly. Fans don’t want to hear that the group is pressing and will eventually come out of it. Of course they are pressing. Big-league hitters press when the runs dry up.
The more important question is why this keeps happening in a lineup that is supposed to bludgeon its way through stretches like this, not disappear into them.
Rob Thomson on the Phillies offense:
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) April 8, 2026
“I think they’re trying to do too much, no doubt. They’re frustrated. We’re just going through one of those times. We’ll come out of it. It’s frustrating.” pic.twitter.com/l4TcWHa0aN
Phillies’ brutal offensive funk exposes a bigger problem than Rob Thomson admits
There's also a little too much stay-the-course energy baked into Thomson’s whole tone. That approach sounds noble when a team is just scuffling through a weird week.It sounds less convincing when the Phillies have already shown a glaring flaw this early, and that is how bad they have been against left-handed pitching. At some point, calling it frustration starts sounding like a way to avoid saying the harder thing out loud.
The injuries are nothing to sneeze at. J.T. Realmuto has been dealing with a foot issue, Alec Bohm has been managing a groin problem, and Zack Wheeler is on the injured list. We won’t pretend the Phillies are operating at full strength. But even with that context, this lineup should not be this easy to choke off for two straight games. The offense has scored just 42 runs while the team has been outscored by 15 overall.
What makes Thomson’s quote land so poorly is that it feels like the softest possible explanation for a very visible problem. Phillies fans are not confused about what frustration looks like. They are watching it. Saying the hitters are trying to do too much is fine as a clubhouse buffer. Publicly, though, it sounds more like a manager searching for a gentle label than one confronting the shape of the mess.
Maybe the Phillies will snap out of it this weekend. They probably will, eventually. But Thomson’s latest read on the offense did not sound like a man with a grip on the problem. It sounded like somebody hoping the problem solves itself. And that should make Philadelphia a lot more uneasy than a cold streak by itself.