Rob Thomson’s aggressive bullpen strategy instills confidence in his team

HOUSTON — Phillies manager Rob Thomson walked to the mound on Friday with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning and gestured to his bullpen coach, Dave Lundquist. He raised his left arm, signaling that he’d like to use a left-handed pitcher. He was calling for José Alvarado.

The move was aggressive. Phillies starter Aaron Nola was only at 81 pitches in Game 1 of the World Series and Alvarado had entered a game in the fifth inning only 11 times in his six-year career. But the Phillies had just climbed back from a 5-0 deficit off future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander and were about to face the heart of the Astros’ order. In Thomson’s mind, aggression was warranted.

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Alvarado quickly retired Yordan Álvarez on a popup, and struck out Alex Bregman. With just six pitches, he was able to preserve something that Thomson knew could be the difference-maker in Game 1: momentum. He’d seen it before.

He saw it on June 15 when Alec Bohm singled and J.T. Realmuto walked to put runners on first and second for Garrett Stubbs, who hit a walk-off home run, the first of his career.

He saw it on June 7 in Milwaukee when Bohm and Matt Vierling hit home runs off Josh Hader, who, before that night, had set an MLB record with 41 straight scoreless appearances.

He saw it on Oct. 7 in Game 1 of the National League wild-card series in St. Louis when the Phillies put up six runs in the ninth inning after falling behind, 2-0.

He saw it on Oct. 22 in Citizens Bank Park when NLCS Game 4 starter Bailey Falter gave up four earned runs against the Padres in just one-third of an inning. Stubbs walked up and down the dugout that night, reminding his teammates that they’d been here before. He was right, and they delivered, holding the Padres to just two runs over the next 8⅓ innings, and scoring 10 to give them the win.

Thomson knows better than anyone what this team can do with a little momentum. So he gave it to them. And they ran with it in a 6-5 victory over the Astros.

The bullpen didn’t allow a run. Nick Castellanos, who is not known for his defense, made a sliding grab with a runner on second base and two outs in the ninth inning to send the game into extra innings. J.T. Realmuto hit the go-ahead home run for a 6-5 lead, and 37-year-old David Robertson, who is coming off a calf injury, struck out the Astros’ best hitters, Álvarez and Kyle Tucker, and induced a groundout to end the game in the 10th.

Thomson might not concede this, but his players insist that it is moves like this — bringing in Alvarado in the fifth — that enable them to achieve the seemingly unachievable.

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“We’ve done this all year,” said first baseman Rhys Hoskins. “This is what we’ve done. We have confidence that we can string hits together, string at-bats together, push across a couple of runs and then Thomson kept the momentum with us. He made decisions that were maybe a little unorthodox, but he goes with our best guys and keeps the momentum in our court.

“It just immediately screams confidence at you. Hey, I know this is maybe a little early for Alvarado to come in, he’s been later in the game. But that’s just him telling us that he feels this is a big spot in the game for us, the Phillies, and gives us the confidence as the offense that our manager is behind us.”

The Astros are the heavy favorites in this World Series. They won 106 games and comfortably cruised into the playoffs. The last time they lost a game in which they led by five runs was on July 26, 2021. Before Friday night, they had yet to lose a playoff game in 2022.

But none of that seems to matter right now. These Phillies are playing with a quiet confidence, and it’s been steadily building since Thomson took over as manager on June 3. Thomson rarely shakes up the lineup, even when the entire city is clamoring for it. He doesn’t tend to overthink. He manages his bullpen with measured aggression.

He believes in his guys, and because of that, they believe in themselves. And a little belief can go a long way — especially in October.

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