Phillies could one-up Braves with shocking coaching change after postseason dud

The Philadelphia Phillies won their first division title in 13 seasons and earned the No. 2 seed in the National League, giving themselves a first-round bye. Based on their success during the regular season and their previous prowess in October, they were an easy pick to make a deep run in the postseason. Unfortunately, that run ended after a total of one win.

Their season could not have ended much worse. They were bounced in the NLDS despite their World Series aspirations, and to make matters worse, that loss came against their NL East rivals, the New York Mets. That same Mets team finished six games below them in the NL East during the regular season.

With how early the Phillies went out, changes in some capacity have to be expected. No, players like Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler, and Trea Turner aren't going anywhere, but others will. Bob Nightengale of USA Today made it seem as if it was a possibility that these changes might extend past the players.

The Atlanta Braves made the decision to fire several veteran coaches after their disappointing postseason exit, and the Phillies might follow a similar strategy.

Nightengale reports that the Phillies will have evaluation meetings about whether manager Rob Thomson and his staff should return. That report doesn't mean that Thomson or any of his staff will be gone, but it also very clearly doesn't mean that they're safe. If the Phillies do end up firing Thomson, boy, wouldn't that be something?

Phillies could shake up coaching staff following embarrassing postseason exit

Let's make one thing abundantly clear - Rob Thomson did not have a good game managing in Game 4. He left Jeff Hoffman in entirely too long, didn't use his best pitcher in that series decider with the Phillies' season on the line, and made some questionable lineup decisions as well. With that being said, though, Thomson is far from the person responsible for Philadelphia's early postseason exit, and should not be punished for it.

At the end of the day, there's only so much he can do as a manager. Was it a bad move for him to keep Hoffman in the game for as long as he did? Yeah, but who else should he have turned to? The Mets were hitting every reliever that the Phillies used that series awfully hard. Did he make some questionable lineup decisions? Sure, but would Johan Rojas really have flipped the result in Game 4? Would starting Austin Hays over Weston Wilson have done anything?

At the end of the day, this series loss falls squarely on the shoulders of the stars who did not perform. J.T. Realmuto did not record a single hit. Kyle Schwarber was 2-for-16. Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm were 1-for-13. Trea Turner was 3-for-15. Even Bryce Harper came up small in some big moments. The Phillies had their seven-run outburst in Game 2 to narrowly defeat the Mets, but managed a total of five runs in the other three games. How is it Thomson's fault that this incredibly potent lineup failed to do anything at the dish in October? Was he supposed to just bench all of his struggling All-Stars?

Some of his bullpen decisions might've been questionable, but again, this solid unit on paper failed to record any timely outs. Carlos Estevez, Jeff Hoffman, and Matt Strahm, arguably their three best relievers, combined to allow 12 runs (11 earned) in six innings of work in this series. Even Orion Kerkering was far from stellar. Was Thomson supposed to turn to the likes of Tanner Banks and Kolby Allard when he wanted scoreless innings?

Firing Thomson for this loss would be making a move just to make a move. The Braves fired their hitting coaches coming off a season in which they ranked 15th in runs scored. Sure, injuries hurt, but their offense was struggling even when they were healthy. Why exactly would the Phillies be firing Thomson? Because of a four-game sample size?

Anything can happen in the postseason, particularly in a short best-of-five series. The Phillies won 95 regular season games and were good enough to earn a bye. They've gone 250-185 with Thomson at the helm. Sure, you'd like to see the team succeed in October, but this clearly wasn't Thomson's fault. He can't be blamed for his team simply not doing their jobs. That's why they were sent home in the fashion that they were.