Bryce Harper Reveals Reaction to Rob Thomson's Firing as Phillies Manager in Video

The struggling Philadelphia Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday amidst a 9-19 start.

Superstar first baseman Bryce Harper learned of the news alongside everyone else.

"I found out the same time everybody else did. I talked to him this morning, just told him I appreciated him," Harper told reporters. "Obviously, he wasn't supposed to be around that long. Everybody knows that he kinda took the job and was like, 'I don't know if I'm going to do this for a long time.' Then we started winning. Obviously he's done great things for us. We all had a lot of fun in here, a lot of great memories. Talked to him this morning, told him I appreciated him, and if he ever needed anything just to reach out."

Thomson, 62, was appointed interim manager during the 2022 season after Joe Girardi was fired. The Phillies promptly reeled off a 65-46 record the rest of the way and reached the World Series, falling short to the Houston Astros.

The Phillies removed the interim tag that October, signing him to a two-year deal, and he led them to the playoffs in each season since. This December, he was signed to a one-year extension.

He had been with the Phillies since 2018, when he was hired by then-manager Gabe Kapler as a bench coach. Before that he had been with the New York Yankees in multiple roles for 28 years (1990-17).

The Phillies had a clear succession plan in place for Thomson. The organization's president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, confirmed reports that he had reached out to former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Sunday about potentially taking the gig and said he had decided by that point that a change was necessary:

Cora declined the opportunity, reportedly citing the desire to have more time with his family. The Phillies instead appointed bench coach Don Mattingly to serve as interim manager.

Whether Philly can salvage the 2026 season under Mattingly remains to be seen. The team is already 10.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and 6.5 games back for the final Wild Card berth, albeit with 134 games left to play.

The Phillies haven't been very good in any aspect thus far, though a rotation of Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter has the upside to be one of the best in the sport. If the Phillies can get a bit more consistency from those latter three going forward, there may be hope.

But it's undoubtedly an uphill climb at this point.