Phillies manager Rob Thomson joins the show!

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hi, This Rob Thompson and welcome to the Philly Show.

00:00:07
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, Ruben Tomorrow, Junior, Jim Salisbury, Todd's will like you. The Philly Show brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. It is Friday, January thirty first, twenty twenty five, Eagle super Bowl nine days away, but Phillies pitchers and catchers have their first workout in clear Water in twelve days, first full squad workout seventeen days. Who better to set the scene than Phillies manager Rob Thompson. Rob Thompson joins The Philly Show today. Before we get to Rob real quick, just want to say, if you're a fan of The Philly Show, don't forget to subscribe Apple, YouTube, Amazon, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. And if you really like the Philly Show, pick up one of these Philly Show t shirts by forty seven brand at the Phillyshow dot Com. Here we go, everybody, Rob Thompson. Rob, thanks so much for the Philly Show. How are you doing. How's the off season going? You're in clear Water?

00:01:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's good to be in clear Water. I got here yesterday. I drove down from Canada or yeah, down from Canada. And uh, it was a good drive. Roads were clear, the weather it was beautiful and it's really nice here.

00:01:19
Speaker 2: That's awesome.

00:01:20
Speaker 3: What time did you get to the What time did you get to the ballpark today? Rob? I think your record is two thirty six a m.

00:01:26
Speaker 1: Well, it was around three because I've because of my drive, I like to drive. I'd like to get up early, and if I'm going to drive in the dark, I like to do it early in the morning instead of at night when I'm tired. So I've been out pretty early the last couple of days, and so I got up early today and came in.

00:01:49
Speaker 2: That's awesome. And then, uh, you know, got to ask your raf the bat, who are you picking for the Super Bowl?

00:01:55
Speaker 1: Oh? Eagles?

00:01:58
Speaker 2: Where are you guys going to watch that? Because you all be down there right, I mean, everybody'll be down there. You guys have like a big group thing planned yet already or what?

00:02:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, we do you know we're gonna We're gonna all get together and watch it one of the places here in clear Water and it's gonna be a good time.

00:02:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll be fun.

00:02:13
Speaker 1: So you took a little vacation. Tell us about your vacation real quick. Yeah, we went to Ireland. I took my entire family, so my wife Michelle, my daughter Christina, and my daughter Jacqueline and their boyfriends and we went to Ireland for twelve days. The reason we went over in the beginning was Kevin Long's son was married over there, So we spent three days there and then we just Michelle had rented a tour bus. It was our own bus. We had a driver. The driver went with us everywhere and stayed with us, and he was kind of our tour guide. And we went all over the country and it was fantastic. The sites, the scenery, the people there were just wonderful. We had a great time. I had been there before, or no, is it the first ever? Really, the first time I've ever done something that with my something like that with my entire family. So, you know, we got back a couple of days before I came down here to Clearwater. So I'm a little sped up right now. I feel like I'm not. I'm way behind. I got a lot of stuff to catch up on.

00:03:20
Speaker 2: So have againness that will calm me down right, Yeah, make you feel like kind easy back into it.

00:03:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, my daughter's uh boy, my daughter's boyfriend, Harrison. You want a bunch of chugging contests over there. So we're really proud of him. We call him the Canada Goose. He's a legend in Ireland. That's awesome. So what was the food like? Tell us about the food and where?

00:03:47
Speaker 4: What was your favorite you know stops as far as and favorite eats.

00:03:51
Speaker 1: Well, we did a lot of pub food and at night it was my daughter Christina's thirtieth birthday, so we went to a really nice restaurant there. You know, the food was fantastic. Fish was excellent. We did a lot of stuff around them, you know, by the ocean, so we had a lot of fish and chicken was really good. The steak was really good. And I'm not a lamb guy, but the lamb they said was the best they've ever had.

00:04:19
Speaker 5: Wow.

00:04:20
Speaker 3: Maybe you should Maybe you could bring your the chugging Champion into day one of camp.

00:04:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, you should bring them in.

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00:05:33
Speaker 3: So you guys, have you know, had some you know three three years in a row you played October, different results, but still a heck of a team, a lot of high expectations. Have you thought about what you're gonna tell the club in a couple of weeks when they come together for day one of spring training, what your kind of traditional opening camp speech might be like?

00:05:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think the the biggest thing that I want to make sure that they understand that they're really good, because there's a lot of noise around us, you know, and I think and I think it's it's natural that people from on the outside they see the club. You know that in twenty two we go to the World Series. The next year the CS, the next year we get beaten the DS, and it looks like we're going backwards, and in my mind, we're going forward. Every year we've had a better roster. I think at this point this year, I think our roster is better than it was a year ago. We've improved on our regular season wins every year, so I think we're still growing and we're still getting better. And you know, again, the playoff results haven't been there, and it looks like we're going backwards, But in my mind, I think we're going forwards and we've got a really good club.

00:06:52
Speaker 4: Yeah, people talk about this the windows starting to close.

00:06:55
Speaker 1: Do you feel that at all?

00:06:57
Speaker 2: I don't.

00:06:58
Speaker 5: As just an observer and it's someone who watches every single game, obviously you as well are assessing things. How do you talk about the people who think that this window is closing, that the people, you know, the players are getting older and that sort of thing.

00:07:16
Speaker 1: Well, they are, they're getting older, but they're gaining some experience, and the young younger guys are gaining experience and playoff experience the Stots and the Bones and the Marshes and the Rowjases of the world. And now we've got this group of prospects coming too. You've got Painter and Chasse, and you've got Miller and Crawford and all these guys, Auto Kemp, all these guys are coming. So, you know, I think there's a really good thing going on right here, right now, because we've got a really good group of experienced guys that are good people, and we've got this group of younger players coming through or coming up, and they're going to learn from the experienced guys, the veterans, and eventually they're going to be veterans as well. And so I think if we can keep this thing rolling and keep you know, keep moving people up and into the picture, we're going to be fine. I don't see the picture this thing closing at all, to tell you the truth, I.

00:08:17
Speaker 2: Think maybe a big reason for that, at least in my mind, is getting Jesus Lizardo to kind of fill out that rotation. We haven't talked to you since that trade went down. I guess what was your reaction to getting Lizardo? How does he fit into the rotation? I know he fits, but you know, and and and you know, what are your expectations for him this season?

00:08:38
Speaker 1: Yeah? Just we just need to keep him healthy. You know, that's a big arm. And just watching him from from Afar and from across the Diamond, this guy's got big stuff and he's I think he's got to make up to I know he's got the makeup to pitch in Philadelphia, and that's a big deal. I think he's tough, and he's aggressive and he goes after people and he's not afraid. Yeah, he's he was a big pick up. You know that. That really gives us a lot of depth because you know, and I hope Taiwan really benefits from this program. I've talked about a couple of times over the course of the season or of course of the off season, and body feels good, arm feels really good. Caesar Ramos went out to see him and said he since since Caesar has been with him, this is the best the time ones look. So hopefully it translates now. Now we got a lot of depth. Now we got things happening, you know, and then you get hopefully Painter comes sometime this summer. We expect that if he's healthy and he's pitching well. Again, we got Chas Say and we got Tyler Phillip. I mean, we got a lot of depth there. We got a lot of resources to pull from.

00:09:53
Speaker 4: And speaking of the rotation, I was just kind of curious. You know, some people have talked about, you know, once here would you think about going to a six man rotation? Other teams have been talking about it that have a little bit of starting pitching depth. I know it's a great problem to have to have all those guys healthy. How do you feel about that possibility, maybe not at the outset, but maybe later on during the course of the season.

00:10:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so, you know, I think that's something you definitely have to look at because you got to protect Andrew and now by the time we get him, we're going to be a good portion through the season and the rest of the guys may need a little bright they may need an extra day. So that's definitely something that you look at. Hopefully you get in length from all those guys because it shortens your bullpen, but once you you know, once you get the September, you can out of pitcher. So yeah, that's certainly something we need to look at.

00:10:52
Speaker 3: Do you think it'll be a challenge to convince a guy like Zach Wheeler that that might be the best thing for the ball up, especially when you expect to pitch an extra month in October, or could you work around him in his desire to stay on his fifth day.

00:11:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, that that'd be a conversation with Zach and see how it reacts to it. But there's always with off days, there's always ways to work around it. And she said, you know, you might have one of those other guys that just needs a one time through the rotation where you know, you put him at the back so you keep on Zach on the fifth day. So there's there's a lot of ways to be able to kind of play with it, but definitely that's a conversation that we'll have to have with that.

00:11:38
Speaker 3: What are you here? What are you hearing about Ranger and his off season program? Because you know, he was two different pitchers last year, and you know what, what's he been doing this winter? And how do you expect him to come in there to clear Water in a few days.

00:11:52
Speaker 1: Yeah, I expect him to come in a camp in shape and ready to go. You know, he's doing his throwing program and hopefully he's working hard at and he's healthy, and you know, we get him through a full season because it seems like every year, you know, he gets banged up here and there. But you know, we'll just have to take good care of him and make sure we keep them sharp. You know. The one thing that it's it's difficult because he pitched so well early and so it's really hard to take him out of games when he's he's at six innings and he's got sixty pitches, you know, and all of a sudden he's throwing eight innings with eighty five pitches and now you can take him out, but still the innings just added up on him just because he was pitching so well, and I think it warmed down a little bit.

00:12:48
Speaker 2: Another guy that you guys acquired, I think after we last spoke at the Winter Means was Max Kepler, And I'm just kind of curious. You know, he's gonna play left field. He's never played left field before. But that doesn't seem to be I don't know, you tell me that doesn't seem to be too big of a deal going from right to left. I got with his defensive capabilities, but I guess, how do you see him fitting into the lineup? Do you think he can hit left handed pitching? You know, what's what's your thoughts on Max Kepler?

00:13:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, he has in the past, as long as we keep him healthy. You know, he's another guy he's had some knee issues in the past. He had kind of some some mid section issues last year, which which kind of hindered him and I think it affected his numbers. We'll see what he does in spring training, but he's healthy right now. Klong's hitting with him right now in Arizona and says he looks great. But you know, this guy's put up some pretty good numbers in Minnesota when he's healthy, so and I trust our training stuff. I think we have the best training stuff in baseball. I really do. Paul Okite and his his group. They do a great job keeping these guys healthy and keeping them on the field. And if we can do that, I think we got a pretty good player on bounce back here.

00:14:03
Speaker 4: So one are the players I think is one of the biggest keys to the depth of your lineup and for your decision making is Bryson Stott. I know he had sort of a blip in his screen as far as his overall growth.

00:14:15
Speaker 1: I saw him kind of going this way.

00:14:17
Speaker 4: I know he had some elbow issues that you talked about earlier in the offseason.

00:14:23
Speaker 5: What are your expectations of him? I have great expectations of him. I think he's going to be I think he's a really good ballplayer. I think he's got a chance to be a great ballplayer.

00:14:31
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts? I agree with you one hundred percent, and I think he's He's another guy that if he stays healthy, he's going to be a He's going to chew up pitches, get on bass steel base is, you know, just be that little rat you know in the middle towards the end of your lineup. That is going to help turn it over great defender, He's going to use the field, I think. I think the elbow really affects at his swing last year. So I'm expecting a much better year out of him this year, and I'm expecting Marsh to get better as well. You know, Marsh at the the last couple of months was really good and really good against left hand and pitching too. The overall numbers from the over the year didn't look as good, but if you break it down to the last couple of months he was. He was really good using the entire field and staying lo to left and high to right. And when he does that, hees a good player.

00:15:31
Speaker 2: Do you have any you at the winter meetings. I think after the off season in October you had talked about it you're opening maybe changing the line if you have any clearer picture on that, I'm not asking it to name you're opening day lineup, but had any conversations with any players swore Bury any of those.

00:15:45
Speaker 1: Guys about a couple of conversations. But I think we'll play with it during spring training and see where it goes, and you know, see what the best fit for us is and and maybe it's a situation where we're facing a lefty we do want thing. We're facing a writy, we do another thing. Maybe it's moving Shob behind Harper to protect Harbor more, which maybe that moves Harper up in the lineup a little bit, not lead off, but maybe two. But those are conversations I've got to have with guys. And you know, we'll do the best thing we can and keep people comfortable, but at the same time, put the best lineup out there to score runs. And I tell people all the time, don't forget now we were top five in almost every major category offensively, so let's let's not try and outthink this thing. Are you so?

00:16:39
Speaker 2: I've heard a couple managers say this. I know analytics people have said this. I want to get your opinion on it. I've been told that, you know, you guys will run simulations of different lineups over a course of one hundred and sixty two game season, and from one lineup to the next might be a difference of four runs over the course of a year. Do you believe that, I mean in the sense of it really doesn't make this huge seismic difference in between offensive production. What's your take on, you know, a tweak to a line up making a massive, massive difference or is it Are you more in the mindset of this guy's really comfortable here, this guy's really comfortable here, that that that makes maybe makes more of a difference than that three run difference over the course of a season.

00:17:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, I certainly take the heartbeat of the player into account. I do believe in the numbers, I truly do. But but I think you have to keep people comfortable. I think you have to make sure you keep the confidence in players, you know, live with it for a while if they're struggling, because you never know when they're going to come out of it. You know, at the start of the season last year, you know, Nick Castianos was really struggling, and kept running him out there. He played one hundred and sixty and he was one of our biggest bats at the end. So you know, you got to trust those guys, especially those experience guys.

00:18:08
Speaker 4: Speaking of Nick, are you go as the goal to have one hundred and sixty two out of Nick this year or is he back him off a little?

00:18:15
Speaker 1: I hope so, you know, I talked to him the other day he's in great shape. He's he's got he's hired a movement guy, and he's he's doing a lot of work down there in Miami and he feels great. So jeez, I hope everybody plays one hundred and sixty two, but as we know it, that's probably not going to happen.

00:18:34
Speaker 3: Rob. If you were to tinker with leadoff, who would be your candidates to hit there?

00:18:39
Speaker 1: I think you're probably talking about Trey.

00:18:42
Speaker 3: Because you mentioned Stott, see him being that guy? Yeah, in fact, so Stott wouldn't be a candidate.

00:18:48
Speaker 1: Well, the thing is is that you know we're so left handed, and you want Harper and you want Schwarber getting as many at bats as you can, and now put start in the leadoff spot. Now you're really left handed at the top, and it creates they might create a problem even if you're facing the right hand or they start you know, everybody's got three lefties in the pen, it seems anymore, and you know they'll just start matching up on it. How do you feel about that?

00:19:18
Speaker 4: Because you see that the you know Atlanta and New York they're loading up on the lefties and they know that you know, you're a lot of your strength and power is from the left side.

00:19:26
Speaker 5: Do you think that's calculated and they're doing that to try to combat you guys, or do you think they're just trying to.

00:19:32
Speaker 4: Make their teams better because it seems like they're they're targeting the Phillies.

00:19:36
Speaker 1: Well, I think I think in this division there's a lot of good left handed hitters, you know now, especially with Soto coming into the division. So you know, I think it's I think it's maybe a little bit tired at us, but I think it's you know, division wide, is really why all these teams are loading up on lofties?

00:19:57
Speaker 2: Kind of another big, big picture question to follow the Dodgers every every week they signed. Yeah, I think just the last couple of weeks have been like Sasaki, Tanner, Scott, you know, Kirby, Ye.

00:20:10
Speaker 1: You're gonna have a thirty man roster.

00:20:13
Speaker 2: Okay, that's so rob Like just running into people, friends and whatnot. They ask a lot about the Dodgers, and the question I get is, man, how are the Phillies going to compete with the Dodgers when they're just loading up on all these guys, and as the competitor, you know, what's what's your feeling on what the Dodgers have done this season, and you guys are right there with them regular season wise, what do you think.

00:20:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they've done nothing illegal, So how they spend their money is how they spend their money. You can't do anything about it. You can't control that. But all you can control is what you do, and you just go out and compete. This is major League Baseball. They're all big leaguers and we got a really good club. They can only play nine guys, that's all they canna do, and they can only start one pitcher every night. And we've got a really good rotation. We've got a really good lineup, we've got a really good bullpen, so we'll match up finally.

00:21:10
Speaker 7: Yeah, speaking of the bullpen, are you considering going with just one one closer there at the end at some point and letting somebody emerge or you're gonna got to go with the same sort of formula be gone with the last few years.

00:21:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, it looks like probably the same formula unless somebody really steps up and looks like, okay, you can take down the ninth. We have enough left handed opportunities and right handed options to fill the from the sixth to the eighth and this guy can get both left and right handers out and go with it. But we've had a lot of success with the way we've handled the bullpen in the last couple of years. So to start the season especially, I think we'll go, you know, bullpen by closer by committee, if however you want to call that. Just play the pockets and play the innings accordingly.

00:22:04
Speaker 3: What's your first conversation, you know, next week or the next few days with Alec bom going to be like or possibly I guess you've been talking to them all along.

00:22:14
Speaker 1: He's been.

00:22:16
Speaker 3: In terms of a hard event. It hasn't been an eventful winter, but it has been an eventful winter, if you know what I mean.

00:22:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, when all the rumors started, you know, the trade rumors, I called Alec and I said, you know, because this is really the first time he's gone through this, And I told him, look, you know, we're not looking to move you. The only reason your name keeps coming up is because you're a really good player and other teams have interests. So if people are talking about trades, we have to listen and figure out what we need to do. But this guy's a really good player, he really is. And you know, he gets a little bit emotional at times, and he's got to be able to rain that in at times so that he can stay focused. Because if he does that, I think this guy's got a chance to be a perennial All Star because he can really hit, and he's the type of guy that we're looking for, a guy that is going to be able to use the field and hit right handers, hit left handers, hit velocity, and and his defense has come so far. It's it's it's incredible the amount of development he's made at the major league level, especially defensively. Rob you're a great communicator.

00:23:29
Speaker 4: I know that it's something that's that that that you've been doing since, you know, starting your your coaching and managing career in the minor leagues. Tell me about how you approach him and how kind of discussions. I don't I don't want you to say anything that's you know that that's private. But how how does those discussions start with him as far as dealing with his overall emotions.

00:23:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's I think it's trying to stay positive with him in the fact that just what I said if you can really you know, everybody gets a little bit emotional, but it's it's how you handle it, how you show it, how you react from it. Just make sure that he stays focused, because if he stays focused, you're going to be a great player. You're going to be a perennial All Star. You're going to hit three twenty with thirty and one hundred and twenty because you're hitting right in the middle of our lineup. You're going to do that every year. But don't give it bats away, don't give up defensive plays away. And that's for everybody, not just for Alec. I mean we got we got a lot of guys that get emotional, But you know, how do you react from that? How do you get you know, what's the what's the next pitch look like? What does the next play look like? You can't be thinking about what's happening that's gone. You got to think about what's going on right now and keep moving forward.

00:24:55
Speaker 2: Rob, what are your reports on Johann Rojas or what were they down and on a winter ball? Because I see the numbers really good. You seem really good, I know, and won a gold glove, But what does that mean? Does that mean anything, I mean what you tell me.

00:25:09
Speaker 1: It does to me. I mean just looking at the tape, because you know you can we get all as at bats and he's really simplified as approach. There's less head movement, there's less movement in his his takeaway or his load or whatever you want to call it. So it's it's keeping him still and keeping him under control so that the swing is more controlled. He's using the field a little bit more, he's bunning, he's doing all the things that we want him to do. So it'll be it'll be interesting to see him come into spring training and and see how it translates, you know, on the major league side. But that's that's pretty good leg he's playing it, so you know, it's it's not like he's playing in some a ball league. This is professional baseball over there, and they take it pretty seriously. So I'm proud of them. I'm I'm happy with the progress he's making. Well.

00:26:03
Speaker 3: Back in October, you talked about one of the ways to reduce some chase, would you know, stand on the ball longer, use the entire field. I would think, you know, one of those guys might be Tray Turner. I mean, will that be a focus in spring training for him and for for others?

00:26:24
Speaker 1: I think for everybody. Yeah, you know, we really have to be able to do that because that's how pitchers are attacking us and you get to the guys that the better pitchers in the league, and if they're attacking your chase rates, if you will, it's harder, it's harder to hold up because it's better stuff. So yeah, it'll be a focus for everybody. You know, make sure that you stay on the base, don't try to do too much passive aton. Trust the next guy. If they walk it, they walk it, go to first place. The next guy is gonna gonna pick us up. And if we do that, we're we're going to put up big numbers. Rob.

00:27:08
Speaker 4: There's a there's always an excitement when when the calendar flips and you get closer and closer to just bring training are there, and I'm sure you're excited about getting the boys together, any players that you have been thinking about like that, you really excited about seeing guys that you really haven't putting your eyes on, and and people that might be dark horses.

00:27:29
Speaker 1: As far as making the roster, I know.

00:27:30
Speaker 4: It's pretty fairly set roster is probably a couple of pieces at the end of the bench and the and the bullpen that have to get squared away. But anybody in particular, like matchups or people that you want to see coming.

00:27:42
Speaker 1: Forward, well, you know, I always think of myself as a development guy because I spent so many years coaching the minor league. So I'm really excited to see our young kids come here, not that they're going to make the club, but just to get this experience. And I want to see them play. I want to see their talents. The Adian Millers and the Crawfords and those types of guys come in here and see what they got because I've heard so many great things about them, you know, watching tape and reading reports. It's just it's just exciting. And I can't wait to see him. I really can't. And plus the new guys that we've acquired that are on our big league club, you know, Jordan Romano and Joe Ross and Kepler and Wizardo. I'm excited to see them and get to know them and see what they're all about. And because I think they're going to really fit here. And if we keep all those guys healthy, I think they're going to really contribute.

00:28:38
Speaker 3: Have you spoken to j T about possibly trimming back a little bit just to enhance performance you know later on.

00:28:44
Speaker 1: No, I'm afraid of that conversation. So former wrestler, watch out, Donald. I'm going to talk to him a little bit, you know. And hey, doesn't mean he can't d H and get his at bats and keep him off his feet. And you know that might mean that shore basketba out to the left field every once in a while or however, we you know, work work around that. But he's going to get as a bats and and you know, he's in great shape right now. I haven't seen him yet. He was here yesterday, but I came in after he left. But I'll see him today. And you know, I know it's a contract year for him, so that's a big deal. And and he's a prideful guy. I mean, he wants to play every day, just like a lot of our guys are. And that's what I love about him.

00:29:33
Speaker 3: It's also a contract year for a contract year for schwar Does that impact how you deploy him in the lineup?

00:29:43
Speaker 1: Not as far as his bats or as far as where I put him in the lineup where.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: You put him, because that's I think.

00:29:53
Speaker 1: I think he'll get as at bats, you know, because he for the most part, he stayed pretty healthy at the hamstring last year, but he came back from a pretty quick but he's going to get us a bat. So I think where you put him in the lineup is based on what's best for the ball club.

00:30:12
Speaker 2: Rob I've been getting the itched to get down to clear Water, And what really kind of got me going was, I know it's been out for a while, but I watched the Netflix documentary and the four Red Sox, and I know your organization was on the other end of that, so but there there was a part in the documentary where Red Sox weren't playing well or they were losing. There some clubhouse turmoil, and and Terry Francona said, you know, I believe that the players take so many mental cues from how the manager is acting and how the coach is reacting, so we had to kind of stay flat lined and not show panic. And I'm I feel like you're you believe the same thing. And there's one and what's your philosophy on that in terms of how your demeanor can affect a clubhouse, and how do you go about that? So you show or see but you don't show panic And what's the fine line there? And I'm just curious about that. When when Terry Frank Frankcotas said that, immediately wanted to ask you that question.

00:31:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, I truly believe that you can't let your players see us what you really can't. You've got to keep your chin up and your chest out and keep moving forward. And whatever anxieties you have, and everybody has them, you eat it and you don't show it because it will it will transfer into the group at some point. But you know there's case by case. And you know, people don't think that I talk to the players or that I don't get on the players, but they don't see what goes on behind closed doors, and so there's there's a lot more conversations than people see. But in the moment, I think you have to stay under control players, coaches, manager, You have to stay focused, and you have to understand that you can only control you can control and that's it, and then figure out the the the issue later and and correct it. So I try to stay calm and don't show much emotion at all.

00:32:16
Speaker 4: Rob you've done a lot, a lot of things in the game. Started off in the minor leagues, ran minor league system, did did a whole bunch of stuff, bench coach. I'm sure during that process you probably thought about at some point being a major league manager. And I'm just curious, how does it feel to be, you know, in this position over the last several years.

00:32:39
Speaker 1: I mean, you've you've gotten here.

00:32:40
Speaker 5: You've you know, you've been into the World Series.

00:32:44
Speaker 1: Do you pinch yourself sometimes?

00:32:45
Speaker 5: Because I remember doing going through it myself, getting to the to the pinnacle of being a GM.

00:32:51
Speaker 1: Do you think about that a lot? And do you And how does it make you feel when you put that uniform on? Yes? I do pinch myself every day, I really do. And to think of what's happened in the last three years and leading up to that. It's just in the opportunity that Dave and John and the front office has given me here too, to be able to lead a group of really great players and great people. I just I couldn't be in a better place, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I really wouldn't, you know. And I remember walking out of Dave's apartment when we agreed, and I'm walking down the street and there's in downtown Philadelphia and there's hundreds of people walking by me and nobody knows who I am, and I'm and I thought at the moment, I thought, this is this is going to change. It's going to change my life. It's and it has. It really has, and and even more than I ever plought in a good way too, because I get to meet people. Well, Like last night, I went down to one of my favorite chicken wing place places down here in clear Water to get some food and I'm walking out and there's six guys from Philly standing out front. They're here for a hockey tournament with the junior Flyers. They're called oh yeah, big hockey tournament going on here, and I goes Toper and I so I sat and talked to them for time or fifteen minutes. They're great guys, you know, they're just there with their kids. And so those are the things that I like. I mean, you know, you take a bunch of stuff when you're losing, and that's all part of it. But there's a lot of really great things about it too, and a lot of great people in Philadelphia that have treated me very well. So yes, I pinched myself every day and I love it.

00:34:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of quite a lifestyle change to go from relative anonymity like you said too. Now you walk down the street in Philly or you go into a restaurant and it's like Norman Cheers walking in. Probably probably get a.

00:35:09
Speaker 3: Few beers paid for it too.

00:35:11
Speaker 1: That's not bad either.

00:35:12
Speaker 3: You know, anyone recognize you in Ireland?

00:35:17
Speaker 1: No? In fact, you know I saw it was funny because we went to tour Guinness and that was like the second or third last day we were there, and somebody had a Yankee hat on and it was the first time I'd seen anything from about sports from the United States, whether it's football, basketball, baseball, hockey, everything else was kind of you know, soccer or rugby or hurling related in Ireland. So it was it was fascinating that there was my lights are going out here because there's no movement in the room there, you got your commuter nicely. It was fascinating, you know, there was there was no American sports represented over there, so how was.

00:36:08
Speaker 2: The Guinness there? Did you drink in us here?

00:36:10
Speaker 1: And it was actually I do know. Actually it's the first guinness I've ever had. Was there? It was? It was really good, Yeah, it.

00:36:19
Speaker 4: Was it was it room temperature or was it it was chilled?

00:36:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, because I've never had it because it just seems like I'm I'd be drinking a chocolate milkshake, so I stayed away from it. But it was. It was actually very light over there.

00:36:39
Speaker 2: That's awesome. Well, Rob, we're looking forward to getting down there, you know, man, I mean you were You've been up in Canada for most of the off seasons, so, I mean, it's cold here, it's cloudy here.

00:36:51
Speaker 1: It's good.

00:36:52
Speaker 2: We're imagining the sunshine and the warmth.

00:36:54
Speaker 1: We've got about two and a half feet of snow in Stratford, Ontario, is right. We're right in the lake effect. We got a lot of lake effects now, so we're in the middle of lake here on Erie and and in Ontario. So it doesn't matter which way the wind blows. If it's snowing, we're we're gonna get getting out.

00:37:16
Speaker 2: You got a snowblower.

00:37:17
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, you got it.

00:37:19
Speaker 2: Up there, right.

00:37:20
Speaker 1: You're not sure so you didn't get so you get into the pool. You didn't get into that.

00:37:23
Speaker 2: Pool at all.

00:37:23
Speaker 1: No, I couldn't. You can't even tell.

00:37:25
Speaker 3: We got a pool right now when you drive it, when you drive across the border. Does the do the agents ever engage any baseball talk?

00:37:36
Speaker 1: Yeah? Sometimes, because every year when I first go to spring training, I have to check in. They I have to pull over and go in the office and renew my work vison and I've been in there so many times, it's been forty years. So I went. I went in the same place. I try to cross the same border, crossing all the time. That way, it's just consistent. And they get to meet the you know, the people, and so they know them now and yeah, you know, but they're Tiger fans. R. You grew up a Tigers fans.

00:38:08
Speaker 2: You have a lot to talk about. That's awesome. We again, Rob, thanks thanks so much for coming on. We really appreciate it, and we will we will see you a couple of weeks that we're looking forward to the upcoming season.

00:38:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's great down here. I can't tell you how after the hurricane, the work that the people in Clearwater have done here, I mean, it looks almost normal. And I just I was driving down the strip last night and just checking it out, and it was. I know there's a lot of people that still are having problems, and but the downtown area and clear Waters they've done a great job. Look forward to.

00:38:48
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for coming on, Rob. That was great. Thank you again to Rob Thompson for coming on the show. Also, did you know Baseball America is part of the followed Territory network. Baseball America is rolled out its top thirty prospects lists for every team in baseball, including the Philadelphia Phillies. So the folks at Baseball America want you to take a look right now, scan the QR code on your screen. If you're watching on YouTube, use the promo code Phillies thirty and get thirty percent off the first year of your annual subscription. Or just go to Baseball America promo code Phillies thirty to get thirty percent off your annual prescription. You'll read all about Aden Miller, Andrew Painter, Justin Crawford, all those Phillies prospects, some of whom could be in the big leagues later this season. The Philly Show Guys, we'll be back next week.

00:39:42
Speaker 1: Take care.

00:39:43
Speaker 2: The Philly Show is brought to you by the Foul Territory Network. Subscribe to The Philly Show on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. If you like us, give us a review, Follow us on Instagram, TikTok x, Facebook, and threads. Find Rubens analysis before, during, an after Phillies games on NBC Sports Philadelphia, on the Sports Radio ninety four, WIP Morning Show, and MLB Network. Find Jim at all pH l y dot com. Find me at MLB dot com, the Phillies Beat newsletter, and MLB Network