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The Phillies have been a model of consistency the last few years, having their way in the NL East and becoming a fixture on baseball's October calendar. Things haven't gone so smoothly this year, with the offense sputtering and the Phillies in third place, a mere three games over .500, but because of their track record of stability it certainly qualifies as a surprise when they engage in any sort of midseason shakeup. But that's what they did Thursday, firing hitting coach Milt Thompson and replacing him with Triple-A coach Greg Gross -- who held the job for three seasons before Thompson took over in 2005.
It's a move no one could have predicted heading into this season, as the Phillies led the league in runs three of the last four seasons. They finished second in 2008, the year they won the World Series. Thompson's lineup did plenty of damage in those campaigns but has been relatively toothless this year.
Not that the Phils' bats have completely gone in the tank, but they have performed far below their usual standards, sitting 12th in the NL with a .254 team batting average and ninth in the league with a .733 OPS. Despite those problems, they remain a respectable sixth in the league with 437 runs.
The amount of blame Thompson should shoulder for the drop-off is certainly debatable, but the Phillies seem to have reached that point many on-the-bubble contenders face in midsummer. They have to do something, and as they continue to work to swing a big trade -- with most of the chatter focusing on the Phils acquiring a frontline pitcher rather than a big bat -- Thompson took the fall. As someone who's been around the game a long time, he took the dismissal in stride, telling MLB.com he didn't consider himself a scapegoat.
"It's part of the business," Thompson said. "I ain't even mad. If somebody else can get them going and they can get in the playoffs this year that would be great."
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