Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson has made MLB history after replacing Joe Girardi
The Philadelphia Phillies were reeling with Joe Girardi as their manager. They had lost 12 of their last 17 games and 18 of their last 29 going back to May 1.
But since Girardi was fired one week ago today, the Phillies have not lost a game, making MLB history for their interim manager Rob Thomson.
Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson has gone 6-0 in his first six games since replacing Joe Girardi, which is the first time a new manager to a team has won their first six games without a loss since San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou accomplished the feat in 2003.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson has made MLB history
Alou went 7-0 to start the season with the 2003 Giants. He had managerial experience, though, as he was the manager of the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) for parts of 10 seasons from 1992 through 2001.
Thomson had never officially been a manager before being named the interim manager of the Phillies.
In Thomson’s six wins, the Phillies are hitting .279/.365/.591, which is sixth, fourth, and first in baseball in that span. They are also averaging 7.8 runs per game, which is also the highest in baseball.
For the starting pitching staff, they have an ERA of 2.48 in the six wins, which is second in baseball and the bullpen has an ERA of 1.53, which is third in baseball.
Defensively, the Phillies allowed nine unearned runs in their final five games under Girardi but in the six-game winning streak, they have allowed only one unearned run.
The six wins have nearly brought the team back to .500 as they are 28-29. They will look to get over .500 and, perhaps, gain some ground on the Mets and Braves, who have actually won nine games in a row themselves, this weekend against the D-Backs at home.
Their current streak isn’t sustainable for the remaining two-thirds of the season but, perhaps, hiring Thomson in the interim was the right move for the Phillies and maybe, it will get them into the playoffs.