The Pros & Cons To Firing Joe Girardi
This Phillies team has been more disappointing than a rainy day at the beach. The 2022 Phillies have been downright embarrassing. Whether it be their dumbfounding defensive miscues, inopportune cold streaks at the plate, or the bullpen serving up their best batch of an Italian grandmother’s meatballs in big situations, this squad has been intolerably frustrating since the third day of the season.
When things are as bad as they are right now, everyone including fans and media alike look for someone to blame. As in most cases, the main person to blame is usually the guy running the show. In this case, that’s manager Joe Girardi. While the Phillies skipper claims publically he isn’t worried about his job security, the outlash from fans suggests that he should at the very least be aware of it.
Girardi was asked by @JSalisburyNBCS about whether he’s worried about his job security. Girardi’s answer: “I don’t worry about my job. I’m never worried about my job. I don’t worry about my job. I’ve got to do my job, it’s the business of being a manager. I don’t worry about it”
— Alex Coffey (@byalexcoffey) May 30, 2022
This team came into the season with high expectations. Dave Dombrowski and John Middleton have put together a team that, with the fifth highest payroll in baseball, should certainly be competing for a playoff spot. Instead, the Phillies are not only bad, they’re even worse than they were before they were even trying to compete.
The Phillies are currently seven games below .500, they’re worst mark since the last day of the 2017 season. That’s right, this team with three all-stars and the reigning MVP is on pace to be just as bad as a team who gave significant playing time to Pedro Florimon, Tommy Joseph, Ty Kelly, and Cameron Perkins. Dark times.
Why Is Girardi On The Hot Seat?
If you’ve watched the Phillies with even the slightest consistency over the past two years and two months, you know the answer to that question. Just for kicks and giggles, let’s run through all the reasons I’ve been able to muster up.
The biggest issue that the fans and media seem to have with Girardi is his management of the bullpen. Specifically, his outright refusal to use pitchers on three consecutive days. While this may seem seniscal on the surface, Girardi sticks to this rule regardless of context.
For example, Seranthony Dominguez wasn’t used in Monday’s contest against the Giants because of the three day rule. Dominguez has been solid since returning from Tommy John surgery, as he currently has a 2.00 earned run average with 22 strikeouts in 18 innings of work. On Sunday, he threw 11 pitches in a 1-2-3 inning. On Saturday, he threw exactly one pitch to record an out.
Are we really being told that Dominguez was unavailable to pitch in a key situation on Monday because he threw a whopping 12 pitches across two days? I understand he’s coming off of a significant injury, but take the training wheels off Joe. If he’s on the roster he’s healthy enough to pitch.
The second issue with Girardi is his seemingly never-ending affection for veteran utility role players and Odubel Herrera in general. Johan Camargo is a good utility infielder with a solid glove and a decent bat, much better than Girardi’s previous utility lover Ronald Torreyes. That being said, what good is it to have Bryson Stott be in the majors but sit on the bench?
I understand Stott has been swinging a wet pool noodle at the plate this year, but he’s a rookie. If he’s supposed to be a key part to the future of this ball club, let the kid get more comfortable in the batter’s box. He’s a natural hitter, he won’t hit .118 forever. Having him ride the pine with the major league club does nothing for his development and destroys his confidence.
I’ll never understand why this organization chooses to give so many chances to Odubel Herrera. It’s like they feel as if they owe him something. Either that, or he knows where the abandoned hot dog launcher is and is threatening to tattletale on the organization. Jokes aside, Girardi keeps inserting Herrera into the lineup despite his lack of discipline at the plate, the endless gaffs in the field, and his boneheaded baserunning decisions. There’s zero accountability for mistakes on this team.
That sort of leads to the third, and maybe the most important reason. This team hasn’t had an identity since Girardi became the manager in 2020. There’s no accountability for any mistakes or issues. There’s no competitive fire. Worst of all, there’s no joy. Sports are supposed to be fun, professional or not. This team looks miserable, and it’s reflected by their play. The vibes are horrendous, and that starts with the manager.
Clearly, whether the energy in the Phillies clubhouse needs fixing is up for debate. But if it does need fixing, how do you fix it? Kyle Gibson believes the solution is to tap into what drew players to the game in the first place: To have fun. https://t.co/1yThQMc1k4
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) May 30, 2022
The Pros To Firing Girardi
The pros to the possibility of relieving Girardi of his duties should be obvious. First and foremost, maybe it fixes some of the problems that I listed above. I’m confident that literally anyone else could manage the bullpen better than Girardi. Maybe we’d see some more of Stott. Maybe the vibes of the clubhouse would change.
idk, if I owned a baseball team with a top 5 payroll and they are 10 games back before June I’m probably going to fire the manager of said team.
— Absolutely Hammered (@AH_Pod) May 30, 2022
At this point, what more do the Phillies have to lose by firing Girardi? They’re record is already horrendous, and at this point the fans, and seemingly the players, are numb to the painful losses. Maybe firing Girardi gives this team a little kick in the butt, and they can potentially get the ship steered a bit more in the right direction.
That’s essentially it for pros. The Phillies move on from Girardi can give the team a kick in the butt, and some of the painfully horrible managerial decisions would be no more (hopefully). Other than that, there really aren’t a ton of pros to firing a manager in the middle of the season.
However, the pros listed are fairly huge pros. They could quite literally make or break games, and therefore, make or break the season. It all comes down to whether or not the pros outweigh the cons in the eyes of the organization. There are still over 100 games left to play.
The Cons To Firing Girardi
I’ve made it pretty clear which side of the fence I stand on. Firing Girardi at this point in the season just seems like the best choice at the moment. With that being said, there would still be cons to this situation.
The main con being, who the hell do you replace him with? Typically, the bench coach would become the interim manager for the remainder of the season. In the Phillies case, that would be Rob Thomson. In case you’re wondering, Thomson’s only experience managing a ball club has been when Girardi (or Gabe Kapler from 2018-2019) has been ejected.
Secondly, in my humble opinion baseball may be the one sport where the head coach or manager has very little impact on the outcome of the game. Yes, they make important decisions such as who comes in to pitch and when to pinch-hit or pinch-run for guys, and setting the lineup is important.
With that being said, they don’t tell the pitcher what pitch to throw. They don’t tell the guy in the batter’s box what to swing at or what not to swing at, especially in this era of baseball. They don’t tell the fielders to throw the ball eight feet over Rhys Hoskins’ head or to let a line drive scoot under an outfielder’s glove.
In essence, my main issue with firing Girardi mid-season would be that I’m not sure what exactly would change because Girardi is no longer there. The bullpen would still be bad. The fielding would still be atrocious. The lineup would more than likely stay the same, especially with the core guys. A manager has little-to-no influence on runners left in scoring position or the hot and cold streaks of players.
What Will Happen?
If the Phillies are swept by the Giants, I could definitely see Girardi getting canned on the off day on Thursday. The narratives and headlines would write themselves. “They just fired the guy that was supposed to fix everything the last guy did wrong, as that last guy sits on the opposite bench and runs him out of town.” It would be one final parting “F you” from Gabe Kapler.
If the Phillies manage to win even one game in this series with San Francisco, I don’t think the Phillies will actually pull the trigger on Girardi. I tend to lean more on the side of Girardi won’t be let go, because I’ve become so accustomed to Philly teams being complacent with mediocrity and failure.
The question of should Girardi be fired and will Girardi be fired are obviously two different questions. They’re also two very complicated, difficult questions that contain a lot of layers. I’m not sure if Girardi will be let go at some point this season, and I’m not even sure if it would be the right choice.
The only thing I know for certain is that this team is way too talented and way too expensive to be 11.5 games out of first place before the calendar even flips to June. Something has to change.