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The Phillies and Mets Were Both 9-19, then One Team Decided to Get Serious and Fire the Manager
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Talk about a Phillies weekend. Jeez Louise.
They took two of three from the Mets. Bryce Harper hit for his first career cycle. Kyle Schwarber blasted four Schwarbombs deep into the night. Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler did what they do, which is shut down the opposition, and on Monday morning the Phillies are 42-35 and 6.5 games behind the Braves while the Mets drop to 34-43 and tweets like this hit the timeline:
Yes. It is interesting to think about this.
The Phils were 9-19 on April 26th after losing 11 of 12.
The Mets were 9-19 on the same day after being swept by the Colorado Rockies.
Phillies brass fired Rob Thomson, the team went on a tear, salvaged its season, and is now in a wild card spot two months later. They’re 33-16 since promoting Don Mattingly.
New York decision makers decided to stick with Carlos Mendoza and they remain last in the division. They’re 14.5 games out of 1st and are 25-24 in the same time frame.
The takeaway is an affirmation for lighting fires under asses. Rob Thomson may or may not have deserved to be fired, but his firing was a catalyst. It created a sense of urgency and got these guys going. Now they’re a legitimate team again with some obvious questions facing them. Who replaces Andrew Painter? Can they trade for outfield help after the Adolis Garcia injury? They’re not a World Series contender at the current moment, but they can be with a continuance of this form and some shrewd maneuvering from the front office.
The Mets, on the other hand, would have to go 47-38 the rest of the way just to finish 81-81. That’s a .553 winning percentage. They’re six games out of the last wild card spot, so turning this thing around is not out of the question, but they have to climb over the Reds, Pirates, D Backs, Nationals, Marlins, and Padres to get there. And if they miss the postseason with that payroll, then Mendoza is probably getting fired anyway, right? His tenure isn’t as long as Thomson’s was when he was dismissed, but the Mets missed the playoffs last year after going to the 2024 NLCS. If you need to send a message, he’s the guy you get rid of. You can’t just dump all of these underperforming and highly-paid players, unless Uncle Steve comes in and cans David Stearns.
When we look back at this Phillies season, whatever happens, we’ll recall that firing Rob Thomson was the right move.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com