Rob Thomson took a break from not standing up for his players to call out a star on the Philadelphia Phillies biggest rival, the New York Mets. The regional NL East matchup has not gone the Phillies way of late, having lost seven straight games at Citi Field. The Phillies have a 59-80 all-time record at Citi and are 7-20 in Queens since 2022 if you include the postseason.
The Phillies are 47-47 since mid-July of 2024. That is a concerning statistic for a team that is supposed to be in the upper echelon of the National League. Dave Dombrowski made few moves to improve the club this winter, and so far this season they are playing like a .500 team.
Thomson is the fall guy for the Phillies struggles as of this writing, with much of the fanbase calling for his job. Thomson took the Phillies to the World Series in 2022, but since then has fallen short of expectations, losing in the NLCS and NLDS in back-to-back seasons.
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Rob Thomson thinks Mets closer Edwin Diaz faked an injury
Losing yet another game in the Phillies house of horrors is enough to put anyone associated with the team in a bad mood. We certainly understand that, but what we cannot get behind are false accusations regarding Edwin Diaz's injury. Thomson questioned the legitimacy of Diaz's ailment, but there's a backstory here.
Diaz was called for a balk in the top of the tenth inning with two runners on. This was because Diaz stepped off the mound for the third time in a single at-bat. However, Diaz then motioned to the Mets dugout and was removed from the game with an injury. Once the umpires realized Diaz stepped off for a third time because he was hurt, they rescinded the balk, much to the chagrin of Thomson.
"That’s a play that I’ll have to remember to tell our pitchers," Thomson told reporters. "Step off a third time. Call the trainer. He’ll take you out. We’ll put somebody else in."
Phillies have their own problems to deal with
By all accounts besides Thomson, Diaz was dealing with a real injury. It may even force an injured list stint depending on follow-up testing by the Mets this week. Here's what Diaz had to say about his injury after the game.
"On the fastball I threw to Realmuto, I felt like my hip got locked up," Diaz said. "So I started walking and tried to loosen it up and when I stepped on the mound, I couldn't lift my leg a little bit to come set. So that's why I started doing the step-offs, because I was feeling uncomfortable."
Sounds like a reasonable enough explanation. Thomson and his Phillies have real problems, including rotation depth thanks to injuries and the bullpen.
Thomson ought to worry about rallying his own team, rather than starting drama with a rival who's owned them as of late.