Phillies: Joe Girardi isn’t worried about his job, but he should be.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the most disappointing teams in MLB in 2022. Entering play on Memorial Day, the Phillies are in third place in the NL East with a 21-27 record, 10.5 games behind the New York Mets for first place.
The Phillies have a little bit of extra pressure on them considering that they haven’t been to the playoffs in more than a decade (2011) and they got some veteran free agents this past offseason (e.g. Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, Corey Knebel, and Brad Hand).
Girardi was asked about his job security after Sunday’s embarrassing 5-4 loss to the Mets in 10 innings (after the Phillies led 4-3 entering the bottom of the ninth inning).
“I don’t worry about my job,” Girardi said. “I’ve never worried about my job. I don’t worry about my job. I’ve got to do my job. It’s the business of being a manager. I don’t worry about it.”
With the way the Phillies have been playing, though, Girardi should be worried about his job.
Joe Girardi should be worried about his job status with the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi is in the final year of a three-year deal. He was also hired before President Dave Dombrowski and GM Sam Fuld took over so they could be looking to hire their own manager.
In their last 14 games, the Phillies have lost 10 of them. They haven’t had abysmal performances from the starting pitching, bullpen, or offense as they have been in the middle of the road but the defense has been the key to a lot of their losses.
In that 14-game span, the Phillies have allowed nine unearned runs, including three on Sunday (one came via the extra-inning baserunner rule).
On the season, the Phillies are last in baseball in Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) at -24 and 21st in fielding percentage. According to FanGraphs, they are in the bottom five in nearly every other defensive statistic on the season.
The lack of fundamental baseball has cost the Phillies and, here soon, it could cost Joe Girardi his job.