The Phillies are a disaster. Joe Girardi’s managerial seat is white hot.
And hey, look at that: Gabe Kapler is in town. And he’s already kicked his old team in the teeth.
Girardi said he isn’t worried about his job security after the Phils were swept by the Mets over the weekend. And presumably his stance hasn’t changed after Monday’s extra-innings loss to the Giants and Kapler, the polarizing former Philadelphia manager.
But if the Giants sweep this series and the Phillies are 21-30 with a six-game losing streak entering an off-day Thursday? It’s hard to imagine Girardi makes it to the weekend again.
“I don’t worry about my job,” Girardi said on Sunday. “I’ve 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.”
Everyone else certainly is preoccupied with it.
Girardi is in the final year of his contract and Phillies front office boss Dave Dombrowski didn’t hire him. The team stinks despite an offseason spending spree that pushed the payroll well north of $200 million. The fanbase is clearly ready for a change. And as the pressure mounts, the clubhouse will eventually find it to be a relief when it happens.
It’s a matter of when, and not if, at this point. Which is a shame. Girardi is a good manager. He won the World Series with the Yankees. Maybe he should have won another one, too. He led the Phillies to their first winning season in a decade last year (albeit barely at 82-80). This should have worked out, but it just never did.
Girardi will be 58 in October, so he is young enough to get another job down the road — if he wants one. And he likely deserves one. The guy has really never had a “bad” team, per se, and Girardi’s downfall here is not due (at least as has been reported) to friction between him and the roster. It’s just a bad team that needs to throw a Hail Mary, and that usually means identifying a scapegoat.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
