ATLANTA — Less than two weeks ago, there was some reasonable doubt regarding Rob Thomson’s future with the Phillies. The team lost three straight to the lowly Chicago Cubs and had to put all their faith in both punishing the Nationals and getting some help from the Marlins in their series against the Brewers.
It all somehow worked out. The Phillies took three out of four from Washington in the middle of a tropical storm and the Brewers squandered multiple leads to a team that struggled to hit all year long. The Phillies wrapped up a playoff spot in Houston the following Monday.
Everything worked out in the end, but baseball is a results based business. Thomson got the results, even though there were a few moments where it felt like the Phillies season was slipping away from them. Then again, the Phillies wouldn’t have been in the position to fail spectacularly in September if they didn’t turn it around in June under Thomson.
After an impressive pitching performance that led to the franchise’s first postseason series win since 2010, Thomson was rewarded with a two-year contract and the “interim” qualifier removed from his title.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said he called Thomson to his hotel room to discuss a contract. As the Phillies waited to open the Division Series, Dombrowski ran out of reasons not to retain Thomson beyond this season.
“My mind was already made up at this point,” Dombrowski said, referring to the end of the regular season. “So if you can get something done to stabilize the organization, all the much better.”
Thomson would not call a permanent promotion “the prize.” He wanted to focus on Tuesday’s game and said he was “completely” uncomfortable with the idea of discussing himself given the magnitude of the game that will take place the next day. Thomson says he does feel validated.
“I feel awfully good about it. I really do,” Thomson said. “It’s been in the back of my mind for a lot of years. But the last three, four, five years, I really have never thought about it. And then it just happened. It’s funny how life is sometimes.”
When the news was officially announced by the club, some players dusted off their Twitter logins to react to the news.
The buzzword to describe Thomson on this particular day was genuine. Zack Wheeler called him “not so robotical” last week, but Hoskins found a way put it more admirably.
“I think he just feels relatable,” Hoskins said. “I don’t know if that’s just his demeanor, the way that he speaks to you as a person and genuinely listens. There’s just a lot of genuine feeling there, I think, when you’re around him, and it’s incredible to have in the manager’s office, for sure.”
Thomson has worked in professional baseball since 1985. He spent 27 years in the Yankees organization. Much of that time was spent in the minor leagues. He was everything from a Class-A third base coach to a farm director. From his perspective, his belief in the Phillies organization is rooted in the much improved scouting and player development departments.
He’s seen it. Bryson Stott established himself as an every day shortstop after struggling during the first two months of the season. Nick Maton earned a spot on the wild card roster as a flexible lefty off the bench. Darick Hall made an impact as a designated hitter when Bryce Harper went down with an injury. All three players spent time this season in Triple A. Key contributions from minor leaguers was a seldom event in Thomson’s first four years in the Phillies organization.
“I don’t know the exact number, but we’ve had a number of players come up from Triple A, from Lehigh Valley, and immediately produced,” Thomson said. “Immediately put so much energy into the club to help us win games when we had a bunch of injuries, frankly.
“And the development of the pitching prospects that are coming and the position players that are coming. I just think the organization has been built from the ground up. And we have good, veteran players, and we’ve got all this youth coming. I just see good times ahead. I really do.”
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