The Philadelphia Phillies fired their manager, Joe Girardi, last week.
He was the first MLB skipper to lose his job in 2022.
Rob Thomson was picked to lead the team as the interim manager.
As it turns out, the Phillies are 4-0 under Thomson after their 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday.
It’s still too early to tell if Girardi was indeed the problem, but the Phillies’ roster has some flaws that would complicate any manager’s job.
But one thing is clear: when the offense couldn’t produce at least four runs, they had virtually no chance of winning under Girardi.
The sample size is small, sure, but the numbers so far in the 2022 back that up.
The Athletic’s senior reporter Jayson Stark wrote a tweet, of the tongue-in-cheek variety, about that.
The Phillies Have Been Really Bad When Their Offense Doesn’t Produce
“#Phillies record under Joe Girardi this year when scoring 3 runs or fewer: 2-15. Phillies record under Rob Thomson when scoring 3 or fewer: 1-0 Baseball is weird, isn’t it?” he said.
#Phillies record under Joe Girardi this year when scoring 3 runs or fewer:
2-15Phillies record under Rob Thomson when scoring 3 or fewer:
1-0Baseball is weird, isn't it?
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) June 8, 2022
One would think that the reason why the Phillies can’t win games in which their offense doesn’t produce enough runs is because their pitching can’t hold opposing lineups.
However, the Phillies are 17th in ERA with 3.96, so the pitching hasn’t been that bad.
The offense may be a bit inconsistent, but it hasn’t been that bad either: before Wednesday’s games, they were ninth in OPS with a .726 mark.
With 259, they have also scored the seventh-most runs in the league.
That 2-15 record under Girardi seems a bit fluke-ish, but again, we will have a better understanding of what is (and was) going on with the Phillies when we have a larger sample.
Baseball, like Stark says, is weird.
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