A Slow Start After the All-Star Break leads to Thompson's firing

After winning a 2-0 extra inning game against St. Louis on Thursday, Phillies hitting coach Milt Thompson was relieved of his duties as hitting coach. Greg Gross, who has been helping with Phillies player development in the minor leagues, will take over as the Phillies hitting coach.

The firing of Thompson was a bit surprising but the move could be understood. The Phillies haven't performed up to their offensive capabilities but there is a reason for that. The Fightin's have suffered injuries to key players. Short stop Jimmy Rollins hasn't been able to get things straight at the plate after suffering a calf injury. Also, third baseman Placido Polanco as spent time on the DL. Most importantly, the bat of second baseman Chase Utley can't be expected to be replaced by Wilson Valdez.

As a team, going into Saturday's game, the Phillies ranked sixth in the National League and 12th in the Majors with 443 runs scored. Rollins is currently struggling at the plate with a .234 batting average. Along with Rollins' struggles, Ibanez, Victorino and Utley have had down years. Plus, the bench for the Phillies has been basically non-existent.

Even though Valdez and Juan Castro have been asked to play everyday for Rollins and Utley, the Phils have shown the ability to not get the clutch hit or win the low scoring games. Greg Dobbs, who normally has the best bat of the bench in previous years, has been sent down for a little bit because of his .202 batting average.

The Phils in the past six years, under Thompson instruction, has finished in the top three in the NL in runs scored. But is it Thompson's fault for the injuries to Utley, Polanco and Rollins? Thompson job is to help the Phils offense produce. That could be through helping a batters swing.

The Phillies can't go ahead and trade every player that isn't performing well so the organization made the easiest and cleanest decision by firing Thompson. The firing most likely was done to send a message to the offense to get things done and provide more run support. The Phils, before Saturday's game, are six games out from the NL East lead and 3.5 games out of the Wild Card.

The Phils have a slim chance to grab a playoff spot and may actually be buyers at the trade deadline on July 31st. The firing of Milt Thompson was made to send a message to the whole Phillies roster that the team needs to step it up to make their fourth year in a row to the playoffs.