Rob Thomson might end up taking the blame for this Phillies roster

When you handle the fifth-highest payroll in baseball to the worst report in the majors, humor might be your greatest coping mechanism.

Right, Rob Thomson?

“I worked for a guy for 28 years that, as the Seinfeld episode will tell you, fires people like it’s a bodily function, and it never bothered me,” the embattled Phillies manager said Sunday. “It didn’t. I don’t have time to think about it.”

» READ MORE: Phillies manager Rob Thomson on speculation about his dismissal: ‘I’ve never worried about that’

OK, truthful. But Thomson’s reference to sitcom George Steinbrenner delivered to thoughts one other scene from the identical present. Remember when George Costanza tied the World Series trophy to his bumper and drove round the car parking zone to attempt to get fired by the Yankees?

Well, did you see the Phillies’ lineup Sunday in Atlanta?

A rookie (Felix Reyes) with 5 video games of main league expertise in the cleanup spot. A utility man (Dylan Moore) making his first begin in middle discipline since 2023. A 3rd baseman (Alec Bohm) with a .412 OPS.

But before you presume Thomson was trying to get canned, consider this: Against Braves ace lefty Chris Sale, it might’ve been the Phillies’ optimal lineup.

And that’s an indictment of Dave Dombrowski’s roster.

Look, the Phillies have a $317 million luxury-tax payroll and a 9-19 report, which qualifies as a full-blown disaster. For years, they leaned in to excessive continuity. The core — Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner — hasn’t modified, whilst the gamers aged into their 30s. Thomson’s teaching workers stayed intact, too, yr after yr.

It’s clear now that something must change, more than demoting reserve outfielder Otto Kemp and releasing No.6 starter Taijuan Walker. It won’t be Dombrowski, a two-time World Series-winning president of baseball operations who has owner John Middleton‘s full trust. It won’t be that core of players.

If the ax falls — and team officials surely discussed all possibilities Monday and whether to take action before the start of a three-game homestand Tuesday night — it usually comes down on the manager. Fair or not, it’s part of the gig.

» READ MORE: Dave Dombrowski is ‘responsible’ for this reeling Phillies roster. And these decisions helped get them here.

Nobody understands that better than Thomson.

Mild-mannered and humble, he was poised to retire after the 2022 season if Dombrowski hadn’t tapped him in June to replace Joe Girardi, who was fired after a day off that led right into a collection at residence. The Phillies have the third-best report in baseball since Thomson took over. He has led them to 4 consecutive postseason appearances and back-to-back division titles.

Thomson, 62, likes to say these final 4 years have been the time of his life. A public challenge from Nick Castellanos final June didn’t change that. Neither will the menace of shedding his job now.

Maybe Thomson will be spared. Dombrowski said last Tuesday that there was “nothing to ponder at this point” about a managerial change.

Yet the losing continues. The Phillies have been outscored by 54 runs, the majors’ worst differential. And Alex Cora, Dombrowski’s handpicked manager in Boston and partner in the Red Sox’ 2018 World Series triumph, is suddenly available after getting fired Saturday night.

(Regarding Cora: He’s due to get paid by the Red Sox through 2027 and likely will want a longer contract if he takes another job. A manager hasn’t led two teams in the same season since Buck Rodgers in 1991. It’s unclear if Cora wants to manage again this year. A source close to him said he’s “good” with being let go because his vision for the Red Sox’ direction differed from that of the front office.)

In any case, before the Cora saga, Dombrowski invited three trusted scouts — David Chadd, Charley Kerfeld, and Brad Sloan — to meet the Phillies in Atlanta over the weekend and encouraged them to hang around the dugout and clubhouse before games. It’s evident he wanted their firsthand input into how to fix what’s wrong.

Maybe they told him to look at the roster he built.

» READ MORE: The Phillies have elite speed at the top and bottom of the order. And it could be key for an inconsistent offense.

Because though Thomson is hardly innocent (not having a lefty able to face pinch-hitting Michael Harris II proved expensive Friday night in Atlanta), it’s troublesome to search out options that aren’t there.

Thomson has juggled the batting order, and still, the Phillies rank 29th, 25th, and 27th in OPS from the Nos. 4, 5, and 6 spots. Their right-handed hitters have a historically bad .505 OPS against left-handed pitching, which would be the lowest mark for any team since the 1918 Red Sox.

“Yeah, we’ve got to fix that, for sure,” Thomson said.

OK, how?

Bohm has barreled one ball all season and is batting .083 against fastballs. As a player with more than five years of major league service, he can’t get sent to the minors without his consent. Maybe Edmundo Sosa could eat into his playing time, though.

Thomson mentioned Brandon Marsh would get extra begins in left discipline towards lefties. Maybe J.T. Realmuto will transfer up in the order when he returns from the injured record, though like many Phillies hitters, he profiles higher in the backside third of the order.

The actual difference-making transfer ought to have are available the offseason. Dombrowski threw $200 million at free agent Bo Bichette so as to add a right-handed bat to the center of the order. After Bichette took a shorter-term, higher-salary supply from the Mets, the Phillies re-signed Realmuto and caught with Bohm.

And now, the roster is the roster.

Not much Thomson can do about that.

But he might wind up taking the fall for it.