The Philadelphia Phillies are playoff bound for the first time since 2011. They finally made it back despite going through the season with an interim manager, Rob Thomson. The 59-year-old got the most out of his group and now has them playing meaningful baseball again.
After securing a 3-0 win over the Houston Astros to snap the National League's longest active playoff drought, Thomson addressed the team to congratulate them. “We're not done. After Wednesday, we have 13 more wins and [then] we're world champions.”
Thoms.
This team.
These guys. pic.twitter.com/bfDk12oAlO— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) October 4, 2022
The Phillies made Thomson their manager midseason after firing Joe Girardi. The team took off under new leadership. Thomson became the fourth manager (and the first since 2009) to take over a team seven games under .500 and take it to the playoffs. For a team so devoid of recent success, his 2022 season will make him a Philadelphia icon.
Rob Thomson is only the 4th manager in MLB history to take over a team at least 7 games under .500 and lead them to the postseason.
Dick Howser, 1981 with the Royals
Cito Gaston, 1989 with the Blue Jays
Jim Tracy, 2009 with the Rockies
Rob Thomson, 2022 with the Phillies— PhilliesNotes (@PhilliesNotes) October 4, 2022
Whoever runs into the Phillies in the playoffs will have to face a myriad of sluggers. Bryce Harper, Kyle Scwharber, Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto will look to bring the fireworks to the plate while Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez will look to shut down the opposition.
The Phillies will be one of three NL Wild Card teams along with the San Diego Padres and either the New York Mets or Atlanta Braves. They may not be in World Series contender territory yet but they made some serious progress this season. Rob Thomson played a huge part in it and proved he should be the team's true manager going forward.
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