PHILADELPHIA – Phillies manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday finished third for the Baseball Writers' Association of America’s NL Manager of the Year Award.
He finished with one first-place vote and 32 points, behind Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy (27 first-place votes, 141 points) and Cincinnati’s Terry Francona (two first-place votes, 49 points).
It was Thomson’s highest finish in four seasons as the Phillies' manager. He finished fifth in both 2022 and '24. It was also the highest finish by a Phils manager since Charlie Manuel finished second in both 2007 and '08.
Larry Bowa is the only manager in Phillies history to win BBWAA NL Manager of the Year Award. He finished first in 2001, when he guided the Phils to an 86-76 record – the organization’s first winning season since 1993.
Typically, Manager of the Year awards go to the skipper from a team that exceeded relatively low or modest expectations.
Murphy guided a team that did almost nothing in the offseason to an MLB-best 97 wins. Francona guided the Reds to 83 wins and the third NL Wild Card. It was Cincinnati’s first postseason appearance in a non-pandemic year since 2013.
Thomson was a bit of an outlier, compared to Francona and Murphy. The Phillies had a top-five payroll and entered the season with World Series expectations. He got credit for easily winning the NL East.