Dave Dombrowski: Phillies not moving on from Rob Thomson, but team’s level of play is concerning
"As a group, I don’t think any part of our team has excelled: Offensively, pitching- wise, starting pitching-wise, defensively," the Phillies’ president of baseball operations said Tuesday.
CHICAGO — With the Phillies back in the city where Dave Dombrowski started his career in baseball nearly five decades ago, he was reminded of the 1983 White Sox.
Dombrowski was working in the front office when Chicago had a 16-24 record through its first 40 games, and then finished the season with 99 wins to seize first place in the American League West.
So, the Phillies’ record of 8-14 entering Tuesday’s game isn’t overly concerning to Dombrowski. What is concerning, though, is the Phillies’ quality of play so far.
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“We just haven’t played very well. It’s really every portion of our game,” the Phillies’ president of baseball operations said Tuesday. “There’s been some individual players that have done fine, by all means, who are doing well. As a group, I don’t think any part of our team has excelled: Offensively, pitching- wise, starting pitching-wise, defensively.”
As a general rule, Dombrowski said he uses the benchmark of 40 games to get a true sense of how a team is shaping up. Though, as the ’83 White Sox proved, it’s not an exact science.
Even if their play isn’t up to snuff, it’s true that amid the current skid, the Phillies have also run into some bad luck.
The statistic of batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is impacted by defense, luck, and talent level. As a collective, the Phillies’ offense has a BABIP of .260 this season, which ranks 27th out of 30 teams. In 2025, the Phillies finished the season fourth in BABIP with .303.
During Monday’s series opener against the Cubs, the Phillies offense hit eight balls harder than 95 mph for outs.
“There’s no sense of worrying about things you can’t control,” Dombrowski said. “I’ve learned that a long time ago, so I don’t really fret when that type of stuff happens. You get frustrated, but the way you go about it is, well, the next day you got to go do it again, and eventually they end up falling in. And there’s going to be bloopers that fall in and dribblers that come in for us, at some time here. You hope it’s sooner rather than later.”
The team was also hitting .220 entering Tuesday, but their expected batting average — which takes defense and ballpark factors out of the equation — was slightly higher at .239.
Dombrowski said what has surprised him the most is the lack of runs. Over their six straight losses, the Phillies have scored 10 total runs.
“That’s why you got to keep battling day in and day out, because the one thing you can’t do is give into it,” he said. “You got to keep on working and fighting hard and battling through it. And if we do, and I think we will, we will come out of it. I can’t give you a date, when or where, because we’re just too talented to not.
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“Alec Bohm didn’t forget how to be a good big league hitter. Bryson Stott didn’t forget how to be a good big league hitter. And the list goes on with other people, too. They’re good players, they’re good hitters, it’s just not working for them right now.”
During the Phillies’ slide, there has been some external speculation that manager Rob Thomson’s job could be in jeopardy. Thomson assumed the role on June 3, 2022 when Joe Girardi was fired following a 22—29 start to the season, and led the Phillies to their first postseason appearance since 2011.
Is Dombrowski considering a managerial change?
“Put it this way. We’re not,” he said. “But if we were, that’s not something we’ve ever shared. Rob Thomson’s been a good manager for us for since [2022]. We always look at everything that’s taking place, but no.”
In Trea Turner and Justin Crawford, the Phillies have two of baseball's fastest players at the top and bottom of their batting order. It's a baserunning coach's dream. Paco Figueroa sat down with "Phillies Extra" to discuss his philosophy on baserunning and how the Phillies might be able to leverage the elite speed of Turner and Crawford to boost an offense that has struggled to score runs early in the season. Watch here.
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