Rob Thomson was not pleased with Odúbel Herrera’s baserunning in Friday’s game
The Phillies erased a late-inning 2-0 deficit and defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in extra innings on Friday night. Rhys Hoskins hit a game-winning two-run home run to center field to give his club a 4-2 lead in the 10th. Seranthony Domínguez and Connor Brogdon were fantastic in the ninth and tenth innings respectively. Starter Bailey Falter threw a career-high six innings in a no decision.
The comeback began with a loud single off the right field wall from Kyle Schwarber in the seventh inning. Odúbel Herrera was on first after working out his 11th walk of the season. Matt Vierling scored easily from second and Herrera stopped at third. He would later score on an RBI single from Hoskins, but once he arrived in the dugout, interim manager Rob Thomson chatted with the Phillies center fielder about his decision to slow up on the bases.
Thomson told reporters postgame that he’s not sure Herrera would have scored if he was running at full speed, but he did take issue with Herrera not giving himself the chance to score by not hustling.
“He kind of slowed up between second and third before Dusty [Wathan] held him,” Thomson told reporters. “I just asked him why. Why he stopped running. And he knows better. He knows he has to run until he’s stopped, so I’m not sure if he can score, but I know he can’t if he’s not running hard.”
Herrera’s blunder did not turn out to be costly as he would score a batter later, but Thomson thought it was important to address it immediately. It’s not a given that a manager would choose to speak to a player about a mistake as soon as they return to the dugout. Some choose to discuss the play after the game inside the clubhouse away from cameras while others could even let the incident go since it was inconsequential to the final score of the game.
When the Phillies promoted Thomson to interim manager, club officials publicly praised Thomson’s communication skills. Thomson himself has made communicating with players a priority and Thomson’s conversation with Herrera on Friday provided a small glimpse into how the 58-year-old manages the room.
The Phillies are 31-18 since Thomson took over as manager on June 3. He’ll be the first to say that the club’s play as of late has little to do with him, but perhaps a higher level of accountability that Thomson has provided has made some sort of tangible impact.
Herrera went 0-for-3 with a run scored in Friday’s win against Pittsburgh. He’s seen his playing time diminish in recent weeks due to his elongated struggles at the plate. Herrera has a .534 OPS in his last 99 plate appearances dating back to May 31.
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