The current head coach of the Phillies officially said, “We are the back,” with boldness due to their upcoming match with…

The current head coach of the Phillies officially said, “We are the back,” with boldness due to their upcoming match with…

PHILADELPHIA—Call him Philly Rob. Call him Topper.

Whatever the nickname, Rob Thomson will be the Philadelphia Phillies‘ manager for at least the next two seasons.

After leading the Phillies to two consecutive NL Championship Series appearances, Thomson signed a one-year contract extension until the 2025 season.

He spent much of 2022 as an interim manager. Thomson will no longer have to enter 2024 as a limp duck.

“It’s good to know that you’ve got that extra year,” Thomson said Monday at baseball’s winter meetings, “but if I didn’t get it, it probably wouldn’t have bothered me.”

Thomson, 60, has a 155-118 record since replacing Joe Girardi as Phillies manager on June 3, 2022. Thomson led the Phillies to the 2022 World Series, which they lost in six games to the Houston Astros. This season, the Phillies returned to the NLCS, but lost 2-0 and 3-2 series leads in Games 6 and 7 at home against Arizona.

Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Nick Castellanos batted 5 for 53 (.094) with 11 walks, 22 strikeouts, and two RBIs in Philadelphia’s four NLCS losses. In Game 7, the four went 1 for 15 against six Arizona pitchers, striking out five and scoring no runs.

Thomson guided the Phillies to a 90-72 record in 2023, their first 90-win season since 2011. In October, he became the third manager in MLB history to win 18 of his first 25 postseason games, joining Hall of Famers Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel.

Thomson has been with the club since the 2018 season, when he was appointed as a bench coach by previous manager Gabe Kapler.

Thomson had stated that he intended to retire after the 2022 season until he was promoted to manager. Thomson stated after the season that he had no plans to retire and intended to manage as long as the Phillies wanted him.

“One reason I was thinking about retirement was that it was just getting stale for me,” Thomson told me. “But since I took on this responsibility, there has been no staleness at all. Every day brings a new difficulty and a new set of tasks. I’m optimistic and just happy. There is no doubt in my mind that I adore this team, this collection of individuals, players, and coaches, this organization, and the city. So it was a no-brainer for me.

With Harper now a full-time first baseman and Schwarber and Turner among the returning sluggers, the Phillies appear poised to compete for the World Series. According to FanDuel SportsBook, the Phillies had 10-1 chances on Monday to win the World Series in 2024.

The Phillies signed starter Aaron Nola to a seven-year, $172 million contract last month.

Phillies President Dave Dombrowski stated that the Phillies knew they intended to sign Thomson and simply needed to take care of other critical concerns, such as signing Nola, before approaching Thomson with an extension.

Thomson worked for the New York Yankees for 28 years (1990–2017), including 10 seasons as a major league bench coach (2008, 2015–17) and third base coach (2009–14).

The Phillies have hired Dustin Lind and Rafael Peña as assistant hitting coaches.