Phillies fans blame Rob Thomson and former Braves top prospect for brutal loss to Cardinals
By Mark Powell
Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson had two choices in the bottom of the tenth inning on Sunday Night Baseball: pinch hit for Cristian Pache, or give JT Realmuto a real day off. Rather than panic in early June, Thomson opted to let Pache, a former top prospect for the Atlanta Braves, hit with Bryce Harper on third base with two outs down by a run. The end result was predictable.
Thomson's risk came back top bite the Phillies, as Pache struck out on a Ryan Helsley wipeout slider. Helsley, who was previously a trade candidate prior to the Cardinals recent winning streak in mid-May, kept St. Louis from suffering a sweep at Citizens Bank Park.
Pache only received his opportunity because of an injury to outfielder Brandon Marsh. While not the five-tool player the Braves once thought he could be as the top prospect in their organization, Pache is still a decent bench piece on a contending team in Philadelphia. He's just not Realmuto, which begs to question why Thomson felt he couldn't give his star catcher one at-bat in a critical spot.
Why the Phillies didn't pinch hit JT Realmuto against the Cardinals?
The Phillies kept Pache in the game for several reasons. First, he wasn't the final out, as Nick Castellanos was on deck with his own chance to drive Harper home with a base hit. Second, Realmuto plays a demanding position, and is one of the best hitting catchers in all of baseball. Thomson wants to keep his backstop fresh, rather than forcing him into a game he wasn't prepared to play in.
FINAL: Cardinals 5, Phillies 4.
— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) June 3, 2024
Cristian Pache and Nick Castellanos strike out with the tying runner 90 feet away to end the game.
How in the world did Rob thomson let Cristian Pache hit there? Realmuto has to pinch hit
— Jacob (@Jacob__333) June 3, 2024
Brilliant managing to continue to call on Soto, who is now 0-3 with the ghost runner. Not to mention not hitting Realmuto for Pache. https://t.co/tfYc3gvLop
— Brian Rosenwald (@brianros1) June 3, 2024
Dude you got sosa and realmuto on the bench and you hit pache?? Cmon man
— Kyle (@kyle_emig) June 3, 2024
The Phillies are 41-19. One loss will likely not come back to bite them at this point, as they are 6.5 games up on the Atlanta Braves and should at the very least make the postseason in one of the three NL Wild Card spots.
Still, a loss in extras to the Cardinals makes for a frustrating end to an excellent weekend for this Phils team that may just be human after all.
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