The news that Rob Thomson was fired was one that still had the shock effect from afar, but judging from the reporting done around the team, it was also a shock inside the team clubhouse. Watching the game being played on Tuesday, it looked and felt like one where the players had a bit of an extra hop to their step. Jesus Luzardo had a little extra giddy-up on his fastball, a little sweep on his sweeper. The hitters actually took better swings against a pitcher in Tyler Mahle that made them look rather foolish a few weeks ago. In his postgame interview, Trea Turner spoke about the heaviness of the day and how it had affected the players in the dugout.
With Thomson now gone and a new manager in Don Mattingly installed, the bright light of the spotlight has now been shifted away from the manager’s office. Some might like it to be pointed in the direction of Dave Dombrowski and that is fair. His assemblage of this roster is always up for debate, but now has a substantial amount of criticism following it with Thomson no longer there to share in the blame for his poor start to the season. To which I ask;
Did Thomson or Dombrowski come into this series against the Giants as the worst hitter in the game? No, Alec Bohm did.
Did Thomson or Dombrowski come into this series against the Giants as one of the worst defensive teams in the game? No, the regular defensive players did.
Did Thomson or Dombrowski come into this series against the Giants with an ERA that starts with a 6? No, Aaron Nola did.
Did Thomson or Dombrowski come into this series against the Giants with one of the worst OPS numbers as a group against left handed pitching? No, the lineup did.
I could go on and on, but the picture is clear – the responsibility for this move that was made by Dombrowski falls mostly on the players that performed as poorly as they did.
We will read over and over as the rawness of this move continues to show about how Thomson had not lost the clubhouse, how the players loved him or respected him, how they didn’t think his message had been lost. That’s all well and good, but the ultimate reason for Thomson’s firing is that the players stunk, plain and simple. Their lack of production on the field is why the team has seen one of its foundational pillars to their success now been toppled over.
We see this all the time, that the players feel bad that they got a manager fired, that they wished it hadn’t happened. That’s great! It’s nice to see players with genuine affection for the person in charge of their clubhouse. However, had they truly felt that bad, they’d have played better when the going got tough instead of rolling over and showing their belly each time the other team took a lead in a game.
The next few games are probably going to see the team pick up their play for the better. There has been talk of how they will see a bit of a lighter schedule, to which I saw what in the past few weeks has the team done to make you believe that the schedule was the issue at play. Maybe improved play is actual positive regression to the mean, maybe it’s a dead cat bounce. That’s for us to look at and analyze in the future. But for now, the spotlight just got a little brighter on the players in the clubhouse. Their poor play to start this season got their manager fired. Let’s see how they choose to respond.
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