The Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves, 6-2, in a game played on April 27, falling to a record of 9-19 and trailing Atlanta by ten and a half games in the National League East. Aaron Nola allowed six runs over four and two-thirds innings, bringing his season earned run average to 6.03.
The team’s slow start has led to questions about the future of manager Rob Thomson. When asked about his job security after Sunday’s loss, Thomson said, “Well, I mean, that’s natural, right? It’s normal. And I’ve never worried about that in my entire career. I worked for a guy for 28 years [Yankees owner George Steinbrenner] who, as the ‘Seinfeld’ episode will tell you, ‘Fires people like it’s a bodily function,’ and it never bothered me. It didn’t. I don’t have time to think about it. I’m a person that thinks about other people and what can I do to help them? And it’s out of my control. So that’s where I’m at.”
Players have also faced questions regarding their performance and the pressure on coaches following recent losses. Nola addressed his own pitching struggles by saying, “I haven’t been doing a great job pitching-wise, been giving up too many runs,” when asked about scrutiny on Thomson. “Giving up a lot of three-run homers and putting the guys in holes and not giving them a great chance to string up some hits… Like today, we went down 6-0 really quick. It’s hard to come back against a really good pitcher on the opposing team when I’m putting them in a position like that.” He added: “I never thought we would go on a losing skid like this… It’s baseball though. We’ve got to get out of it and we’ve got to stay out of it.”
Thomson is not alone among managers facing scrutiny; recent changes with other teams have fueled speculation around league circles.
The Phillies are one of Major League Baseball’s oldest franchises as an original member of the National League according to the official website. The team represents Philadelphia at home games played at Citizens Bank Park since 2004 according to the official website.
Their front office is led by executives including chief executive officer and general manager who oversee operations according to the official website. The franchise has won World Series titles in both 1980 and 2008 according to the official website.
As they serve fans locally and nationally through games and community outreach according to the official website, attention remains focused on how quickly they can turn around their current season.
