Phillies fire Joe Girardi as manager amid poor start

The Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Joe Girardi on Friday morning, with bench coach Rob Thomson to replace him on an interim basis.

On Friday, word broke that Joe Girardi had finally been relieved of his duties.

The now-former Philadelphia Phillies manager was under pressure in the demanding city and perhaps rightfully so after the team started the season 22-29, putting them a robust 12 games out of first place in the NL East, trailing the New York Mets. In the interim, bench coach Rob Thomson will helm the Phillies.

Philadelphia was expected to compete in the division alongside New York and the defending World Series-champion Atlanta Braves, but despite having a +1 run differential, couldn’t find themselves over the first two months of the season. However, Philadelphia is still within shouting distance of a playoff berth with two-thirds of the campaign left, only trailing the final wild card spot by 5.5 games.

As for Girardi, one wonders if this is his final stop. A three-time World Series champ as a catcher with the New York Yankees, Girardi won another title in 2009 as manager of the Bronx Bombers during a 10-year run from 2008-17. However, his stops with the Miami Marlins and Phillies were far less successful. All told, Girardi went 910-710 with the Yankees but 209-225 elsewhere, failing to reach the postseason in his four seasons in the NL East.

At 57 years old, maybe Girardi catches on elsewhere before deciding to either retire or foray back into broadcasting, where he did some work at MLB Network. But considering his struggles outside of the money machine in New York, this could be it for his managerial career.