Apr 8, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (59) in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis
Every week, On Pattison's Tim Kelly and Anthony SanFilippo will answer your Phillies questions from social media. Let's get to it.
@JosephMcgi22411 on X: Is Rob on the hot seat? If the Phillies have a losing record by the end of June will they fire Rob?
@TVMovieFan30 on X: Please tell me Rob’s seat is getting hotter
Tim Kelly: I guess my question would be, what do you think Rob Thomson should be doing differently? With every manager, there are small decisions you can nitpick about. But given how disastrous the bullpen has been to this point and that you haven't gotten much of anything from 2/3 of the outfield spots, being 13-12 really isn't that bad.
I'm not telling you not to be frustrated by the Phillies getting swept in New York, or concerned that there's just a bad vibe with the team right now. But the Phillies are probably two right-handed relievers short in the bullpen, while five guys who have been regulars to this point — Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Max Kepler and Brandon Marsh — all currently have an OPS under .700.
Some of these things will change. The Phillies are going to hit more home runs than they have to this point. But particularly in the bullpen, there are issues with execution and roster construction. To me, that doesn't fall on Thomson.
Anthony SanFilippo: The short answer is no. If baseball executives overreacted to every losing skid and fired a manager or a hitting coach or a pitching coach, there'd be no managers left.
Also, they're 25 games into a season and they still have a winning record. Maybe not for long — if they don't get their act together this weekend in Chicago, for example. But the point is, it's far too soon to be talking about a managerial change.
Have there been curious decisions by the manager this season? Yes. But second-guessing a manager is what makes baseball fun.
I'm not sure you can look at any one of the 12 games the Phillies lost and say, "oh, that was because of a managerial decision by Thomson."
The Phillies are currently losing because the players aren't living up to their end of the bargain here. They are being paid handsomely and the return on investment hasn't been very good.
It's fair to criticize Dave Dombrowski and his team for not addressing certain issues in the offseason. It's fair to wonder now if John Middleton reached a point where he said he wasn't spending more exorbitantly ("stupid money" has a limit, apparently) after hearing Dombrowski's comments about the Jeff Hoffman negotiations.
From @AntSanPhilly: Dombrowski: Phillies offered Jeff Hoffman a similar contract to the one he signed in Torontohttps://t.co/16HDYBME4v
And it's acceptable to be frustrated that the team was thoroughly outclassed by the division-rival New York Mets this week.
But the anger shouldn't be with Thomson for that. At least not right now. If this carries on for a couple months, then we can revisit this conversation.
@SincerelyNotMe3 on X: So many players in the lineup are struggling yet how come Kody gets DFA'd? What sense does that make?
Tim Kelly: I'm perhaps higher on Clemens than some other people. But I didn't think given that he was a left-handed hitter and Edmundo Sosa is a better option at second and third base than him that Clemens was a good fit for the 2025 Phillies.
He's a really good guy, and is well-liked by his teammates. He's got some pop and positional flexibility. While I'm sure the Phillies wouldn't mind keeping him as organizational depth if he clears waivers, I would imagine there's some people in the building that hope he gets claimed by a team that he can have a real role on.
Anthony SanFilippo: The Phillies needed a right-handed bat in the worst way. So when Weston Wilson was ready to come back (and as you saw Thursday, he's a good bat to have against left-handed pitching), someone needed to go.
If not Clemens, who?
It couldn't be Cal Stevenson, as that would leave the Phillies with only Johan Rojas who could play center field. Sure, Sosa and Wilson have played it in an emergency. Kepler has played there before too, but it's been a few years.
The point is, they needed a true center fielder. That's not Clemens.
Who else is going to go?
The Phillies would love to keep Clemens, but he was out of options. He couldn't just be sent to the minors. The Phillies were put in a tough spot, and had no other choice.
If on the off chance that he's not traded AND clears waivers, they'll be thrilled to keep him in Triple-A as good depth. But I'm betting he's on a new team by Tuesday at the latest.
@HupkaKenneth on X: Who is ultimately responsible for the decision to give Jordan Romano repeated opportunities to blow ballgames at critical junctures of games. If Thomson says it’s all him, is he just being the obedient soldier running cover for his bosses?
Tim Kelly: The Phillies allowed Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez to leave in free agency, and signed Romano to a one-year/$8.5 million deal hoping for a bounce back. Clearly, Dave Dombrowski and the organization believed he could rebound from an injury-plagued season a year ago and return to the form that saw him close out 95 games for the Toronto Blue Jays between 2021 and 2023. That obviously hasn't happened to this point.
From my point of view, the issue isn't that the Phillies took a risk on Romano and have gotten burned to this point. It's that they put so many eggs in the Romano basket.
Yesterday, for example, who would you have brought in over him? Perhaps Orion Kerkering, though he's struggled over his last two appearances. And if not Kerkering, are José Ruiz, Carlos Hernández or Tanner Banks more likely to close out a one-run lead against the Mets lineup with a runner starting the inning on second?
If the Phillies had re-signed Hoffman and signed Romano, then you could live with this not panning out. If they had signed another more sure right-handed arm to go along with Romano, this wouldn't be so crushing. But particularly with Kerkering in a funk, you're going to need to have Romano or another righty sink or swim in high-leverage spots right now.
NEW Phillies Stoplight 🚦with @TimKellySports
🚦: Phillies swept out of 🍎
🚦: Dave Dombrowksi comments on Jeff Hoffman’s departure
🚦: Cubs series preview pic.twitter.com/CFEVmV0eZS
Anthony SanFilippo: Frankly, the other options aren't any better right now. At this moment, the Phillies have two - TWO - trustworthy relievers in José Alvarado and Matt Strahm. The other six are not performing. And that includes Orion Kerkering, who is struggling to miss bats.
It's not about giving Romano repeated opportunities to blow games. It's about not having other options than Romano.
To be fair, his "stuff" plays better than any other pitcher they could have called on in the 10th inning on Wednesday. And I'm not sure he made a bad pitch. Both he and Thomson said the pitch to Pete Alonso caught too much of the plate — and obviously, it did because Alonso got his barrel on the ball and doubled in the tying run. But it was on the black and Alonso did lunge for it, so it wasn't egregiously bad.
Romano said afterwards considering the count, the ball should have been completely out of the strike zone. If it was, Alonso likely strikes out.
As for the game-winning hit by Starling Marte, Romano jammed him and broke his bat. But it was a duck fart into shallow center field. That one was bad luck.
I'm not trying to exonerate Romano — he was brutal in previous outings — but the one yesterday wasn't really on him. And he was the right guy to go to in the 10th considering Strahm and Alvarado had already been used.
@BrianRos1: Would you be trying to sign David Robertson?
Tim Kelly: Yes, with the caveat that we don't know exactly what Robertson is asking for, and that even if you signed him today, he likely wouldn't be ready to pitch in the majors until probably June.
Robertson did recently turn 40, so there would be risk in signing him, but he posted a 3.00 ERA over 68 games for the Texas Rangers last season. Even if he's not your biggest midseason addition to the bullpen, you're probably looking at needing to add multiple guys.
My guess is that there's probably not a ton of wiggle room financially for Dombrowski to work with right now, which would complicate trying to add someone like Robertson. But the alternative of sticking it out with this current group — maybe you make a minor internal swap like calling up Max Lazar and DFA'ing Hernández — doesn't sound too promising right now.
Anthony SanFilippo: Something else Dombrowski said Wednesday was interesting. He said sometimes you have to fix your team from within.
I guess the Phillies financial purse strings have been stretched to their limit — at least until the July trade deadline.
It's why they moved starting pitching prospect Seth Johnson to the bullpen at Triple-A. If he can command the zone, there's a good bet that as a high velocity hurler that he gets a crack at a relief role on the big club soon.
All that to say that no, I wouldn't sign David Robertson. There's a reason that no one has to this point. Why spend more money on another retread who has red flags because of his age? Just because he had decent numbers in Texas last year doesn't mean he'd come in here and be equally as effective. Relievers are volatile from one season to the next.
The Phillies need more swing and miss out of the bullpen. They aren't getting it right now.
Adding a 40-year-old reliever isn't going to solve that problem.
