The Philadelphia Phillies have officially parted ways with manager Joe Giradi after just two and a half seasons.
On Friday morning, the Phillies announced in a press release that they had relieved Giradi of his duties as the organization’s top coach.
“It has been a frustrating season for us up until this point, as we feel that our club has not played up to its capabilities,” team president David Dombrowski said in a statement. “While all of us share the responsibility for the shortcomings, I felt that a change was needed and that a new voice in the clubhouse would give us the best chances to turn things around.”
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Bench coach Rob Thomson will be 56th manager in Philadelphia Phillies history
The press release also announced that bench coach Rob Thomson has been promoted to the position of interim manager for the rest of the 2022 MLB Season.
Joe Girardi was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of what would end up being a shortened 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 273 games as the manager, the Phillies were 78-84. The team is currently in third place in the National League East with a 22-29 record. Before their 6-5 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, the team had lost eight of their last nine.
While the team has had a top-10 offense in 2022, they also own one of the 10 worst performing pitching staff this season. The Phillies also have the fourth-highest payroll in the sport at $233 million this season. Suffice to say, a sub .500 record with so much money invested in the team didn’t cut it for the Philadelphia brass and someone had to take the fall for the team’s disappointing start. Girardi was that scapegoat.
Girardi played 15 seasons in the league and previously served as a manager for the then-Florida Marlins for one season in 2006 before moving on to take on the same role with the New York Yankees. Girardi would go on to managede the Yankees for 10 seasons. Leading the team to a World Series championship in 2009 and finishing with a 910-710 record.