When he was in New York, Joe Girardi’s most often-used phrase when things were down was “it’s not what you want.”
His firing one week ago was exactly that for him, but for the Phillies, it was the beginning of a turnaround. The team was coming off a win, but still just 22-29, last Friday morning when Joe was dismissed, but they’re now 6-0 under former bench coach turned interim skipper Rob Thomson after completing a second straight series sweep Thursday against Milwaukee.
And that’s owed, in part, to a different tenor around the team – one even players’ friends are noticing.
“I just got a text from one of my buddies asking the same thing,” Bryce Harper laughed after Thursday’s game, when asked if there was something different in the atmosphere over the last week. “As I told my buddy, it’s just a different vibe right now. We’re playing our asses off. It is what it is, you know?”
If Girardi’s firing didn’t overshadow Mike Trout’s return to Philly last week, the fact that the Phils handed the Angels three of their 14 consecutive losses during a streak that finally ended Thursday night. Then came a quick road trip to face the Central-leading Brewers, who were outscored 21-5 in three games, two of which were laughers.
The Phils have outscored the Halos and Brewers 47-14 over the last six, winning blowouts, close games, and even a walkoff.
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“We played a heck of a series against the Angels and we’ve won the first two against a good Brewers team that’s in first place in their division,” Harper had said prior to the series finale.
Harper was a big part of that, as he bashed his fifth homer of the month off the center field scoreboard in Thursday’s win, but at least part of it has to be Thomson, who was interviewed for the Yankees’ job when Girardi left after 2017 but instead came to Philly to be Gabe Kapler’s bench coach.
“Thomper” remained in that role when Girardi took over in 2020, and since being elevated, he’s on the verge of history: he’s two wins away from tying Pat Moran for the most wins to begin a Phillies managerial career, as Moran started 8-0 with the 1915 NL Champion squad.
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Thomson ran Yankees spring training for much of Girardi’s tenure in the Bronx and helped out in Clearwater the last three seasons as well, and 2022 was his ninth season as a bench coach and 35th overall in a coaching or front office role, so it’s not like he’s a neophyte.
Clearly, given the Phillies take a seven-game winning streak into CBP Friday night against Arizona.
“We needed to get going. Everybody knew that. It’s just a different vibe,” Harper said. “I think we’re just playing good ball right now.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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