It’s not a secret that, in early June, the Philadelphia Phillies were looking like one of MLB’s most disappointing teams.
By June 3, when they decided to fire manager Joe Girardi, they were 21-29 and looking far from what a playoff team should be looking like.
They were underachieving, and the front office thought a fresh voice might spice things up.
Rob Thomson was named the interim manager and boy, did he turn the team around.
Under Thomson, the Phils earned a 65-46 record in the regular season, good for a .586 winning percentage.
Despite a late scare, that was enough to sneak into the playoffs as the last seed in the National League.
That hasn’t mattered, as the Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves in consecutive series.
Now, an 87-win team is facing an 89-win team, the San Diego Padres, in the National League Championship Series.
The Phillies Are Counting On Extending An Auspicious Trend
Talk about an unexpected NLCS matchup.
Considering their lousy start to the season, the Phillies are actually trying to continue a historically promising trend.
👀👀👀#RedOctober | #Postseason pic.twitter.com/eSwTEGVFcn
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 17, 2022
Four teams in the history of the game have reached the Championship Series while starting with a 21-29 record or worse: the 2003 Florida Marlins (now called Miami Marlins), the 2005 Houston Astros (then in the National League), the 2019 Washington Nationals, and the 2022 Phillies.
Two of the three won the World Series: the Nats and the Marlins.
That’s a good omen for the Phillies, who are trying to find every reason to be optimistic.
They are eager to return to the World Series for the first time since 2009, when they lost to the New York Yankees.
They had won the year before, in 2008.
The Phillies have a solid team and a good shot at extending the trend.
NEXT: The Phillies Are Having Their Stars Step Up