It's June already and summer is just about ready to start, but baseball has been in full swing for a couple of months now. Through the first quarter of the season we’ve seen some teams exceed expectations while others have fallen short, however the season is far from over. With that being said, those teams that have underperformed thus far are eager to make adjustments in a timely manner before their seasons are completely lost. The Philadelphia Phillies decided to do exactly that this week, parting ways with well respected manager Joe Girardi after over two seasons under his tutelage and a rocky start to this season
Girardi is amongst the most esteemed managers in all of baseball, serving as manager of the New York Yankees prior to the Phillies for a decade and leading them to a World Series title in 2009. His tenure in Philadelphia wasn’t as illustrious however, positing a unimpressive 131-141 record across three seasons as their manager despite their star-studded roster. Subsequently it wasn’t a huge shock when the organization decided to part ways with Girardi this week and begin their hunt for a new manager to hopefully lead the team into the playoffs. The team has rebounded rather well however, with the Phillies sweeping the Los Angeles Angeles in a three game series in which the total score was 26 to 9. While it remains unclear who will take over for Girardi for the rest of the season, it's clear the Fightin Phils still have some fight left in them.
Many believed the Phillies were immediate World Series contenders when they signed players like slugger Bryce Harper, but the team they built has disappointingly fallen short of expectations. Many believed Girardi was basically already on his way out the door as a result, but the front office elected to make it official this week. It should be interesting to see who they enlist to command the Phillies stacked roster and hopefully lead them to some success next.
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