Speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that the team’s aim is to win the division this year, and he had some ideas on how they are going to do it. The Phillies secured a Wild Card spot in the playoffs after finishing second in the division, and their 60-year-old manager wants to do better this year. While speaking to the Inquirer’s Alex Coffey, the Philadelphia manager outlined what they need to do in order to finish on top of the division this year:
“We want to take the division. And we need to play well every month of the year in order to accomplish that,” added Thomson.
After graduating from college, Rob Thomson began his baseball career as a player after the Detroit Tigers selected him in the 1985 MLB draft. Before joining the organization as a minor league coach, he spent four years in the minor league system as a catcher and third baseman. In 1990, he went on to become a minor league coach with the New York Yankees, and in 2008, he was promoted to major league bench coach.
Thomson joined the Phillies as a bench coach in 2018 and stayed there for five years until the team announced his managership before of the 2022 campaign. The Phillies placed third in the division in 2022. In 2023, they came in second place. Thomson is now focused on taking home the division title this year.
The manager thinks that a great start to the season is crucial, and in order for the offense to start the regular season off strong, it requires enough at-bats during Spring Training. He mentioned the bullpen’s performance and the need to avoid overtaxing them before the season as the second important issue.
For the past five years, the Atlanta Braves have won the National League East in a row; they did so last season by a margin of fourteen games. Rob Thomson, the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, intends to alter that. The Phillies last won the division in 2011, the year they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series.
Seeing whether the Phillies begin the season with the same goal as stated by the manager prior to Spring Training will be interesting to watch.