The Philadelphia Phillies invested big with the signings of Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos but that hasn’t exactly translated into wins. Entering the third month of the season, the Phillies are 22-29 and are five-and-a-half games back of the Wild Card spots.
It’s that time of the season where enough games have been played to know how the season is going and before the trade deadline where teams have to decide whether or not to fish or cut bait. If the Phillies are to make a change, this is the time to do it and they did just that by relieving manager Joe Girardi of his duties.
In their statement, the Phillies revealed that bench coach Rob Thomson will be the interim manger for the rest of the season while coaching assistant Bobby Meacham was let go as well.
Girardi managed three seasons for the Phillies but only had a full season with the team in 2021. There, the team went 82-80 and failed to make the playoffs. For a manager who won the World Series and went to the ALCS four times with the New York Yankees, this had to have been a bit underwhelming for the Phillies.
Many people had thoughts about the move including Phillies fans and local Philadelphia media.
Joe Girardi had to go. Team's under performance, combined with his poor handling of bullpen, lack of energy & failure to press the right buttons made it all inevitable.
— Glen Macnow (@RealGlenMacnow) June 3, 2022
https://twitter.com/Dean_Bosse/status/1530345630840893440?s=20&t=AWtjN4D2yjH3kssRN4ZSQg
Everywhere Dave Dombrowski goes he builds a bullpen that can only be described as an affront to God but sure, Joe Girardi was the problem https://t.co/LuBHmvb5Ht
— Brian Danuff (@briandanuff) June 3, 2022