The Phillies Part Ways with Rob Thomson & Taking Control of the Mets
Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball
The Athletic
4.7 • 874 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Eno, Britt, and DVR are back and fired up as the trio breaks down the Phillies’ decision to fire manager Rob Thomson, what led to the move, and how Dave Dombrowski’s club can get back on track — including whether brighter days are ahead for Jesús Luzardo. From there, they shift to the Mets’ ongoing struggles, exploring what needs to change before things spiral further, and wrap on a high note with the debut of Guardians top prospect Travis Bazzana.
Rundown:
2:55 Phillies Fire Rob Thomson
4:20 Slow Starting Bats
11:35 Limited Options for Position Players
17:00 Remember the 2019 Nats?
20:52 Faith in the Rotation
26:06 How to Fix the Mets
36:25 More Concerned About Hitting or Pitching?
48:30 Guardians Call Up Travis Bazzana
53:40 Eno’s Hot Take in Cleveland
55:55 Alex Cora to Mets or Phillies?
Follow DVR on Bluesky: @DVR.bsky.social
Follow Eno on Bluesky: @enosarris.bsky.social
Follow Britt on Bluesky: @brittghiroli.bsky.social
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Hosts: Derek VanRiper & Eno Sarris
With: Britt Ghiroli
Editor: Jason Potere
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Today on Rates and Barrels, we'll discuss the Phillies decision to fire Rob Thompson after a 9-19 start. |
| 0:06.2 | Other changes that might be on the horizon for Dave Dombrovsky and Company will also dig into the possible decisions that David Stearns can make as he tries to get the Mets out of a similar tailspin in Flushing. |
| 0:18.6 | Plus, the Guardians promote top prospect, Travis Bazana. |
| 0:22.4 | Let's go. |
| 0:27.1 | Welcome to Rates and Barrels. |
| 0:34.0 | It's Tuesday, April 28th. |
| 0:35.6 | Derek Van Riper, you know, Sarah's Britcheroli here with you a loaded rundown. I was more excited to discuss the promotion of Travis |
| 0:44.2 | Bazana. That was what was on top of the rundown until, I don't know, 10 a.m. or so this |
| 0:49.7 | morning when the Phillies decided they were going to fire Rob Thompson. So they join in on the managerial carousel. It's going to be Don Mattingly in an interim role for now. There's a little more to that story that we'll get to here in just a couple of minutes. Britt, how is it going for you on this Tuesday? It's going great, guys. I mean, did I expect there to be two managerial changes before May 1st? |
| 1:11.6 | I did not. |
| 1:12.6 | But here we sit and we will get into the drama and maybe how the game has continued to change. |
| 1:17.6 | Remember last year? |
| 1:18.5 | Was Brandon Hyde, the first manager fired in early May? |
| 1:21.6 | I feel like yes. |
| 1:23.1 | My brain could be playing tricks on me as a toddler parent, but that seems right. |
| 1:45.6 | I feel, yes, I feel like yes. So I was actually at a wedding because it was early May, and I figured you don't at least fire a guy until Memorial Day. And then this year, I'm at my in-laws and I got a call like, hey, in Charlottesville, Virginia, hey, can you go down to Baltimore tomorrow? That because of, you know, basically the Red Sox had their version of their own red wedding in axing Alex Gora. Basically six coaches |
| 1:47.7 | where I was call it tomorrow. Basically, the Red Sox had their version of their own Red Wedding, in axing Alex Gora, |
| 1:46.7 | basically six coaches, right? Let's call it what it is. Jason Veritex and not coming back. So it's wild. |
| 1:51.6 | It's like, guys, you can't go anywhere anymore. Not even in April. These teams are ready and willing, |
| 1:57.1 | these guys who Hammond Hall and are like the most risk-averse guys possible have no |
| 2:02.0 | problem pulling the plug in April. Wild. |
| 2:06.4 | It's all weird to me. You know, how's your Tuesday going? |
... |
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