Phillies manager discusses key area for improvement in 2024

Rob Thomson is about to enter his second full season as manager of a Philadelphia Phillies team that has high expectations.  

Although the Phillies have one of the most talented rosters in baseball and are coming off a World Series appearance in 2022 and an NLCS appearance in 2023, the beginning of the 162-game season has given them trouble in recent years, and they’ve had to rely on the wild card to snag a postseason berth. 

Philadelphia started 1-5 in 2023 before rebounding to finish April at 15-14. A poor May left the club with a record of 25-30 at the start of June, good for fourth in the NL East.

Thomson, who signed a contract extension this offseason, recently spoke to The Philadelphia Inquirer about ways the Phillies can get more out of existing spring training methods. For instance, the team might give more at-bats to veterans during spring training games. He also discussed keeping relief pitchers sharp by practicing a variety of game-like scenarios and having them pitch back-to-back days on occasion. 

“These are the same ideas [as previous spring trainings], but we’ll be really [homing] in on them and paying attention a little bit more,” Thomson told Alex Coffey of the Inquirer.   

“We’ve proven you don’t have to [win the division to make a deep playoff run],” Thomson said. “But that is a slippery slope. Because if you get off to a little bit better spot ... We were .500 in March and April, so it’s not like we were terrible. But in May? We weren’t good at all. And then you’re playing catch-up. And that’s a lot of energy being used. Whereas if you get off to a better start, there is not as much anxiety in August and September.”

Spotrac projects the Phillies to carry a payroll of a little more than $233 million for 2024, which ranks among the top five in the majors. 

One factor that could allow the Phillies to get off to a better start in 2024 is the quality of opponents they face in April. After opening the season at home with a three-game series against the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves in late March, the Phillies’ April calendar includes two series against the Cincinnati Reds as well as matchups against the Washington Nationals, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Angels. 

Of those teams, only the Reds (82-80) and Padres (82-80) finished with records of above .500 in 2023. 

Assuming the Phillies manage to avoid significant injuries during spring training — the team lost former first baseman Rhys Hoskins to a torn ACL in March 2023 —a weaker schedule plus a sharper focus on key training methods could be just what the team needs to start fast.