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The Philadelphia Phillies’ season ended in disappointment with a National League Division Series loss to the New York Mets, but the front office still rewarded manager Rob Thomson after leading the team to a NL East title.
Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday the Phillies extended Thomson’s contract through the 2026 campaign. What’s more, the team’s entire coaching staff will be back in 2025.
Thomson made quite the first impression as the manager when he was named the interim boss in 2022 after the Phillies fired Joe Girardi following a 22-29 start.
All he did was go 65-46 the rest of the way and lead the team to the World Series. Philadelphia defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Series, the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series and the San Diego Padres in the NL Championship Series.
While it fell short in the World Series against the Houston Astros, it was still an incredible run from a team that looked to be heading nowhere fast during the start with Girardi.
Philadelphia took the momentum from that run into the 2023 campaign and again made the playoffs as a wild-card team. It reached the NLCS once again but lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in seven games.
The 2024 team did something the previous two didn’t under Thomson and won the division.
However, there would be no deep playoff run this time around, as the Mets stunned the Phillies in four games and continued their magical run that required defeating the Braves on the final day of the regular season to get into the playoffs and then advancing past the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Series.
While there is surely some lingering disappointment from the early playoff exit, the Phillies are still 250-185 under Thomson and have consistently been one of the best teams in the National League during his tenure.
The hope is they remain in such a position through at least the 2026 campaign as they attempt to take the next step and bring home the World Series trophy under the manager.