Rob Thomson's surprising awards nod still won't be enough to silence Phillies fans

The Philadelphia Phillies are at the beginning of a potentially new era of Phillies baseball, with free agency under way. Before the stove gets too hot this offseason, MLB's annual Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) awards have to be handed out.

The Phillies have three BBWAA award finalists this year. Starter Cristopher Sánchez was named a Cy Young Award finalist, and designated hitter Kyle Schwarber was named an NL MVP finalist. Both of the Phillies star players had an amazing 2025. What comes as a little more of a surprise is manager Rob Thomson being named a finalist for NL Manager of the Year in 2025.

Although being named and having a chance to win the award is honorable, it still won't eliminate doubt from the minds of Phillies fans.

Questions remain despite Phillies skipper Rob Thomson being named Manager of the Year finalist

Thomson had his best year as Phillies' manager with a 96-66 record. However, doubt remained all season long until their journey was cut short in the NLDS for the second consecutive postseason. After securing back-to-back division titles, there's even a small chance that he could win the award this year.

Although, he does have some stiff competition.

Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy was their bench coach before being promoted after the departure of Craig Counsell. He led them to a league-best 97-65 record. Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona took a fourth-place team in 2024 and managed his way to an 83-win playoff team that initially had little hope of seeing the postseason.

The Phillies held the fourth-highest payroll ($308 million) this season, while the Brewers ($145 million) and Reds ($140 million) finished 20th and 22nd, respectively.

Even if by some chance Thomson walks away with the hardware, it won't satisfy the fan base. Sure, there may be some section of fans that didn't like Thomson from the beginning, but their voices only grow louder as the playoff losses continue to accumulate.

Thomson has made the postseason every year since taking over the Phillies in 2022 but has fallen a step shorter each proceeding playoff appearance. He'll be back for at least another year in 2026, so the Phillies will hope for the best.

The Phillies have a lot of talent but have little to show for it as they approach 2026. They have one NL pennant to their name, but that was three years ago now. Thomson can win all the awards he wants, but at the end of the day, the only award the fan base wants to take home is the coveted World Series trophy.