Phillies manager Rob Thomson talks at end-of-season conferences

Phillies manager Rob Thomson talked to the media Thursday at the end-of-season press conferences just days after their season came to a "horribly disappointing" end. READ MORE: cbsloc.al/3Fwm3IG

[@44excalibur]

I have only one question: Why put Kerkering and Kimbrel on the mound in Game 4 with a 5-2 lead when you saw them blow Game 3 the night before, and when you had Lorenzen and Walker in the bullpen, and Walker hadn't pitched at all during the postseason?

[@lovesgucci1]

Why not change the lineup when the DBacks manager told the media his pitcher were going to give Schwarber or Harper anything to hit?! Why have Rojas bat with bases loaded, 2 outs?! Send Kimbrel out there to almost blow game 1, blew game 3 & brought him back the following night to blow game 4, then again brought him out game 6 when it was a must win situation!! Thomson cost us the World Series last year with his bad management. Guy needs to ho

[@lovesgucci1]

*go

[@briangoldy8784]

Agreed, Thomson is over rated, Time for a New Skipper,, @@lovesgucci1

[@44excalibur]

@@lovesgucci1 You're right, but the point I'm making is that it should never have even gotten to that point. By Games 6 and 7 you could tell that the Phillies were gassed. They'd never had to go that deep into a postseason series before. If Thomson doesn't put Kerkering and Kimbrel in Game 4 after seeing them both blow Game 3, if he puts Lorenzen or Walker in there to hold the 5-2 lead in the 7th inning, the Phillies win that game and win the series in Game 5. Kerkering shouldn't have even pitched in this series. He's a rookie and should not be pitching in a high leverage situation with a one-run lead in a league championship series. Kimbrel has been unreliable since August. He's the first Phillies closer since Mitch Williams in the 1993 World Series to record back-to-back postseason losses.

[@stevendukes171]

My guy I’m so serious that was one of the first things I said about the managing which in my opinion cost us the season. Your comment is appreciated man!

[@JohnJones-bk8tj]

We got the ower that can hit home runs the issue is going to be this off season is to get players or hitters that can not only hit for power but can steal bases

[@frankhannon8001]

Coach rob , seams like a good manager 😮 i would not fire him

[@Johnny-l8h]

Half of our outfield can't hit, you need to address that and we're in need of 2 starting pitchers as well.

[@yuy389]

casty rojas and marsh can all hit lmao

[@zavierm6571]

@@yuy389I love Rojas as much as the next but NO he cannot hit 🤦🏻‍♂️ shoulda cave or pache should’ve been pinch hitting for Rojas in the bases loaded situation

[@RH-qk5lt]

I'm not a Phillies fan but it's really nice to see Robs openness and willingness to answer questions as truthful as he does especially given the disappointing time he's answering them. There's always going to be questions of "should we have done this" after the fact and there's inevitably areas to lay blame. Bottom line is, Phillies had a great year but when they needed it they didn't hit in critical situational hitting situations. As a Cubs fan, I've lived thru playoffs where you're big hitters end up hitting something like .117 in a playoff. It's really hard to win when that happens.

[@edfulginiti8798]

Love this man. He’s a good damn coach! Go Phils!

[@lovesgucci1]

The Phillies are watching the World Series at Home because of Thomson.

[@codysmith4941]

Bases loaded is this team’s kryptonite. Please don’t try for long balls. Level contact swings. A single nets you two runs. Switch Pache for Rojas or Cave for Rojas, bet they get that hit the other night. Oh well. Got to try and get better. The fascination with Kimbrel and Kirkering in big moments was questionable.

[@Zane_Zaminsky]

You’re not into launch angles or exit velo? 🤔 I’m not either. I agree with your comment. (The Giants won 3 titles in 5 years with good pitching, solid defense, and TIMELY hitting. They didn’t live and die by the HR…)

[@codysmith4941]

@@Zane_Zaminsky No way. Rather have a .320 hitter who has timely hits and keeps the game rolling than a solo homer when down by 2 or 3. Yes it is a spark but it also is a rally buzzkill too.

[@michaelgriffith4110]

Lets put some focus on the bats going silent and cold. Tons of reasons for this collapse

[@dennisheadley4408]

Pretty simple, they struggled because of Dbacks pitching.

[@RegalEagle1979]

​@dennisheadley4408 No disrespect to the Dbacks pitching. They pitched very well. But they are not the best pitchers that the Phillies have faced this season - not by a long shot - and the Phils have been able to perform very well against some of the best pitchers in the MLB. For whatever reason, they just couldn't hit well in the last few games. They were chasing pitches well outside of the plate and letting perfectly hittable balls go right by them. The Phillies just did not play well, and they deserved to lose.

[@michaelgriffith4110]

@@RegalEagle1979 its baseball though. Comes down to one pitch one at bat and whos performing that night. Dbacks pitched hit and coached better. Phils didnt n thats it

[@RegalEagle1979]

@michaelgriffith4110 Well, yeah, I agree. Obviously they played better. That's why I ended my statement with "The Phillies just didn't play well and deserved to lose".

[@RegalEagle1979]

I can certainly fault Rob for letting Kimbrel blow 2 games in the NLCS, but I can't fault him for losing the series. Our stars failed in the most miserable fashion in games 6 and 7 AT HOME. The top 5 hitters should have been so much better than 3-37 in the last 2 games. That is just ABYSMAL batting from some of the highest paid players in the league. That would have been bad for a bunch of rookies. These were our star players going out there and playing like absolute TRASH. I blame them much more than Topper or Kimbrel.

[@RegalEagle1979]

@@cliffl7619 I think you can certainly blame Thomson for the fact that the series even had to go to games 6 & 7. Keep Kimbrel out of games 3 and 4 and there's a good chance the Phillies sweep the D-Backs and never even have to play a game 6 or 7. However, I don't know how you can not place any blame on the players. They're the ones out on the field. The best hitters on this team came up absurdly small in the biggest games. Harper, Schwarber, Turner, Castellanos...not ONE hit in game 7, and only one hit between the 4 of them in game 6. That's just pathetic.

[@RegalEagle1979]

@@cliffl7619 I played baseball for years as well and I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree. Sure, players can fall into a funk. That doesn't absolve them of responsibility for the way that they perform in do-or-die games. Castellanos was in a funk for the entire series. That's obvious. But for all of our best hitters to fall into a funk at the exact same time? We can and should hold them accountable for that. Yes, it's a mental and physical game - but there are fundamental skills that players OUGHT to be able to call upon to at least get something going when they aren't playing at their best. There is no reason that they should be swinging at so many pitches that are several feet outside of the plate. They took way too many over-the-plate strikes on the first pitch...then they end up fouling the second pitch and swinging at something stupid on the 3rd. They were pressing or chasing or whatever you want to call it. Either way, their performance at the plate is on them regardless of what their mental state was. I think there is plenty of blame to go around for the Phillies dropping this series. Topper is undeniably high on that list. I definitely agree with that. His decisions were bad. But laying 2 consecutive eggs at CBP in front of your home crowd is on everybody in that ball club. Here's something that maybe we can both agree on. The Phillies are built to hit home runs, and they live and die by the home run. When they aren't hitting home runs, they usually aren't winning games. When they're hot, they're extremely fun to watch. When they're not hot, it's usually not pretty. The Diamondbacks won this series by playing sound fundamental baseball. They weren't chasing pitches and they weren't wasting good pitches waiting for that perfect ball that they could hit out of the park. They were taking what was given to them and focusing on getting on base. Sound baseball is usually what wins in the playoffs. They played sound fundamental baseball and the Phillies didn't.

[@pumpkinking5174]

So the assistant hitting coach gets fired but not the main guy Long?

[@MrsCraigJrPhiladelphia]

😢❤🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@kevinkline7242]

Is this an episode of Miami Vice?

[@Xsyfrx]

Hubris denotes overconfident pride combined with arrogance. See games 6 and 7.

[@ryanpeterson9143]

Stott Turner Harper Hoskins (if we keep him) Schwarber JT marsh Casty Bohm Keeps it left/right until 8 and 9

[@lovesgucci1]

What awful questions!! “How have you reflected on the season”?!?! What happened to the grilling this city is known for?! Ugh

[@gregorybaker7148]

Nobody does that anymore. They all want to be liked by manager/coaches/players. I’m a Yankee fan and NY media is the same.

[@lovesgucci1]

@@gregorybaker7148 Seriously!! Thomson should be getting pummeled with questions about DBacks adjusting to playing the Phillies but Thomson literally not changing a thing!! Ask him about last years World Series & how he did the same exact thing. If they don’t want to be hostile, fine, but at least ask better questions; not “how are you feeling today?”!!!

[@toddw6716]

He talks like things were someone else’s decision. He was the f-in coach. He was the guy to decide. What a piece of work

[@FormerlyNYVulgarian]

2:48….Then why didn’t you put him in??? He earned a start!

[@yuy389]

cause he couldnt throw a strike

[@cyclops9125]

Its craig crumbles fault

[@michaelgriffith4110]

Its management decisions, batting went cold, pitching gave up more runs regardless who went in to throw the ball. Dbacks were better im all phases period

[@carolynd1679]

Thomson needs to go!!!!

[@michaelgriffith4110]

And yet girardi had em dead last and going nowhere and thompson comes in and goes to world series and than following year one away back to world series? They obviously like playing for him. Just didnt pan out. Couple better choices and a few hits and there playing tonight in the ws. Theres noone out there that can come in to coach this team anyway except maddon

[@mikewhite4560]

Rob has Great LOOKING Hair...😅

[@josephdegrazio2355]

They should get a new manager. But they won't.

[@mikezobnowski3679]

Same excuse every year...

[@emilio_aldaco2]

😂😂😂😂 Az all day!

[@RJTradess]

Rangers in 4

[@5Antvin]

it will be one of the least viewed ws all time

[@emilio_aldaco2]

But you’re still going to be watching this gonna be you ( 🫣 )…..😂🤡

[@RJTradess]

@@emilio_aldaco2 literally nobody here is watching

[@briangoldy8784]

Blow Me!. Yes, I'm from Philly.

[@ryanschlott8343]

Biggg mistake saying your keeping Rojas and marsh... for the love of god get rid of them!!

[@maxmayer1281]

Seriously marsh??? Dude is really good had a hit in every playoff game… great outfielder.. you have no idea what your talking about

[@firefiight101]

Rojas won us a game against the Braves. Marsh hit when no one else was. U dumb.

[@JoeBucks]

Marsh is a beast dude. Why get rid of him ??

[@paulmarkert1090]

youre wrong about Marsh

[@briangoldy8784]

Rojas Batting with Bases Loaded 2 outs, Why Not a Pinch Hitter? . What a Blunder Thomson. Keep Marsh though...

[@toddw6716]

Years, you coached 1.5 years. You need to go!

[@toddw6716]

The team needs a better coach not a patsy the players like.

[@toddw6716]

When he talks it’s all bullshit

[@chriskerdock]

he should be fired for not using walker