How manager Rob Thomson’s relaxed approach has helped the Phillies save their season

The haze from the smoke machine inside the Phillies clubhouse had dissipated. The music was softer. The toasts that follow every Phillies win were complete, and this was Rob Thomson’s time to circle the clubhouse. His path is not always intentional; sometimes a player who had no bearing on that night’s game is at his locker and Thomson spends 30 seconds checking his temperature. Often, Thomson uses this time to tell someone they are in the next day’s lineup. It’s better than a text message or a posted batting order in the clubhouse.

Nothing about this is singular to Thomson. Communication is a priority for most big-league managers. But for more than four months, people around the Phillies have leaned on one word to describe how a team was reborn under its interim manager.

Relaxed.

One night after a win last week, Nick Maton emerged from the shower with a towel around his waist. Thomson zigzagged through the clubhouse and found Maton, a 25-year-old utility player who calls himself “Wolfie” and howls at teammates. He had not played in a few days.

“Maton, you’re in right field tomorrow,” Thomson told him. “Don’t embarrass the club.”

It was quintessential Thomson: serious, with a hint of deadpan. He knew his audience. Maton, to most in the clubhouse, is the energetic little brother who is confident he can hang with the big kids. He has made the most of his limited chances this season. So many of the organization’s role players have done that under Thomson’s watch.

Maton was stoked that night in an otherwise tranquil clubhouse. “Let’s gooooo!” he shouted, again and again. Thomson headed for the back exit. Maton followed him. Still wearing only a towel, he jumped on his manager. Thomson laughed.

“I think he lets everyone be themselves,” Maton later said. “You know? You don’t feel any different around him. He’s just one of the guys, it seems like. Obviously, he’s the manager. But you’re allowed to be yourself. Everyone’s relaxed. You play better when you’re relaxed. You know?”

The next night, as the right fielder, Maton homered against Marlins ace Sandy Alcántara. He crushed another home run two nights after that. Maton has reached base at least once in 13 of his 14 starts this season, including a huge homer Tuesday against Alcántara again. It’s a small thing. But the Phillies are on a 91-win pace because, for once, they are a team greater than the sum of its parts. Thomson is 57-33 since succeeding his friend, Joe Girardi, as manager in early June. Only one Phillies manager in 140 years has started with a better record than Thomson.

There is something to be said for being authentic — and not just insisting on it. “It’s just him being him,” Alec Bohm said. Thomson, 59, has dedicated his life to the sport. He had reached a point where he was content if he never scored a managerial job. That inner peace helped him maintain a calm presence — even when he became the boss.

“The biggest thing he does is he’s just so easygoing,” Bohm said. “You never sense any panic out of him. He really makes you feel like he trusts us. That’s when things start rolling.”

Rob Thomson argues a call. He’s never been ejected as interim manager. (Eric Hartline / USA Today)

For months last season, the Phillies extended a great deal of trust in Bohm. He started 96 of the team’s first 112 games and produced a .664 OPS. His performance at third base made him a below-replacement-level player, but he was young and an important part of the franchise’s future. The breaking point, for Girardi, was when Bohm misplayed numerous balls during a series in August 2021 against the Mets. Bohm was relegated to the bench. Less than two weeks later, he was in the minors.

The issue wasn’t a lack of trust. All last winter, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski asked his people to gain a better understanding of why the Phillies had failed younger players time and time again in the majors. Trying to win while developing players is difficult. The Phillies could have kept playing Bohm last summer — and maybe they should have — but it should not have even reached that point.

“Guys would get into bad habits last year at the big-league level, and we just couldn’t get them out of it,” Dombrowski said. “So it’s a constant chore. It’s not easy. It’s hard.”

The Phillies knew this: The messaging players received at the highest levels of the minors and in the majors had to be streamlined. It was not always symphonious. Some promoted players were not prepared for different roles in the majors, not equipped to make adjustments or unable to connect with a coach. The Phillies overhauled their Triple-A coaching staff and installed a group headed by 38-year-old manager Anthony Contreras. Information flowed between the staffs, and it was a two-way line. The more the coaches in the majors knew about what a call-up was doing or thinking or struggling with, the more seamless the transition. And when a player was sent back, he went with recommendations on what should be applied at Triple A.

Many times, as bench coach, Thomson was digesting those reports so he could make recommendations to Girardi. Thomson, for the majority of his professional baseball career, has been involved in player development. It is his passion.

With it comes a specific outlook on the day-to-day emotional swings of a 162-game season.

“Guys that have player-development backgrounds, they definitely understand what it takes to get guys to the big leagues and keep them there,” said Phillies third-base coach Dusty Wathan, who managed in the minors for a decade. “And let’s be honest, in Major League Baseball now, there’s a lot of guys in the big leagues that aren’t quite ready. They’re developing still in the big leagues. And that’s an important thing. It’s a fine line to develop and to win when you’re in a situation like we are.

“I think he’s done a tremendous job of it. Just the confidence level that he brings to the table — giving the players that, giving the coaches that, giving everybody that. ‘Hey, it’s going to be fine. Tomorrow’s a new day. We’re fine.’ There’s no panic ever.”

Girardi lobbied Dombrowski in the spring to carry Bohm and Bryson Stott on the initial roster, although it meant the manager had to find enough playing time for both. The Phillies, early in the season, were always going to defer to Jean Segura and Didi Gregorius up the middle until they proved otherwise. Johan Camargo was signed by Dombrowski for $1.3 million; he was going to have a role. So, in April and May, the Phillies were a team that did not have at-bats for less-established players.

The roster situation evolved over the summer — injuries and ineffectiveness prompted changes. Thomson, once he became the interim manager, was in the right seat at the right time.

“Obviously, Topper has been tremendous in trusting guys,” Wathan said. “They might have an 0-for-4 and they’re in there the next day. So, they’re not looking over their shoulder like, ‘Oh, am I going to play tomorrow? Am I not going to play tomorrow?’”

That trust hasn’t just empowered the players; Thomson’s coaches have talked about more latitude to implement their ideas. “The coaching staff has really been beneficial,” Dombrowski said. “I think that they’re a very good teaching staff.” Paco Figueroa, the first-base coach since 2018, said the Phillies have been the most aggressive on the basepaths in the past three months because of Thomson’s willingness to do it.

“(He’s) created a much more relaxing atmosphere here,” infield coach Bobby Dickerson said. “But yet, there’s still a lot of focus. It’s a really conducive environment for a young player to be able to have some flaws but still understand the importance that we have to win ballgames.”

Thomson is typically the first person to arrive at the ballpark. Only the kitchen staff beats him. Before his first spring with the Phillies, ballpark personnel were warned about Thomson’s penchant for pre-dawn working hours. They made him his own key to the ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.

“He’s given his life to this game,” Bohm said. “He’s here before anyone. He’s all about the players. When you show that, I feel like players respond to that.”

“Obviously, he’s the manager. But you’re allowed to be yourself,” Nick Maton said. “Everyone’s relaxed. You play better when you’re relaxed. You know?” (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)

Thomson is rather uncomfortable with the attention. Last month when Bryce Harper wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with Thomson’s face, the interim manager just shook his head. “I hate it,” he said. Thomson does not believe he is responsible for all of this. He defers to the players and his coaches.

They usually know where they stand with Thomson. That might not have been the case before.

“He’s a good communicator,” Maton said. “He’ll let you know whatever is on his mind and what he wants you to do. That’s big, I think. Especially for young guys.”

It’s best to view the Girardi and Thomson tenures as two different seasons within 2022. In the first few months, Kyle Schwarber was still carving his place in the clubhouse while struggling to produce on the field. Once he enjoyed his torrid June and Bryce Harper succumbed to injury, Schwarber became Thomson’s best instrument in spreading the relaxed atmosphere.

Schwarber had pull with all of the players — young and old. He just needed time to develop relationships.

“The clubhouse has been very valuable,” Wathan said. “I mean, Schwarber has been a huge part of that. He’s taken all those young guys and said, ‘Hey, I’ve been through this. I’ve been through that. Just keep plugging along. It’s all right.’”

Schwarber takes from his own experiences — he won a World Series ring after a rigorous injury rehab, then was demoted to Triple A the following season — and believes it is only fair to share them. “I want to bring that to these young guys because we have a lot of them,” Schwarber said. Often, he spends time alongside Matt Vierling in the afternoons while they hit. Schwarber and Thomson have worked in tandem — whether intentional or not — on reimagining the vibes around the Phillies.

“It’s a pretty comfortable environment when you come up here,” said Dalton Guthrie, the latest rookie to debut. “These older guys make you feel at home.”

Kyle Schwarber celebrates with Rob Thomson after scoring a run. He’s become a key clubhouse leader. (Jeff Curry / USA Today)

Results matter. Playing time isn’t guaranteed, and Dombrowski noted this: The Phillies just have better talent than in the past. “I mean, first and foremost, it starts with the players themselves,” Dombrowski said. “Their ability and their drive to succeed.” That is also how Thomson views it.

But under the interim manager, the Phillies have squeezed more from their roster than they have in a long, long time. The sky has never been falling like it was every year during the decade-long postseason drought. Contributions from unexpected sources, many of them younger players, have created a different energy.

“Knowing that you’re going to have a chance to play again is a big deal, right?” Wathan said. “I mean, you come up here, and there’s a lot of stuff going on already. Then you have a little bit of failure, and you think, ‘Oh, now I’m not going to play.’ And you’re scared to go to Triple A. That makes it tough. But when you know that you can come up here and have a little bit of a window to maybe have a shot to stay and have some success, it just eases everybody. It eases young players. It eases older players.”

As the games gain importance, Thomson’s steady hand will be tested. Maybe there is a scenario where the Phillies clinch a postseason spot with a few days to spare in the regular season and the front office comes to Thomson with an offer to be the permanent manager. MLB rules prevent clubs from making a hire without interviewing minority candidates, but if the team can demonstrate its internal option deserves the promotion based on performance, the league would not intervene.

For years, Thomson operated behind the scenes and gained his players’ trust. It was useful for whomever he served — Girardi or former manager Gabe Kapler. “Anybody you talk to in the game of baseball that knows him, there is a great deal of respect for him,” Bohm said. “That’s earned.” Thomson had earned it inside the Phillies clubhouse. He just never knew he would have a chance to do things his way.

It did not take long to see the benefits of Thomson’s relaxed approach — and what it could mean beyond 2022.

“That’s kind of the cool thing,” Schwarber said. “OK, you see what we have right now. But you also get a look into the future. The future can be very bright for everyone involved.”

(Top photo: Keith Gillett / Icon Sportswire via Associated Press)