Phillies' New Manager Faces Aging Roster

0:00It's April 28th, you're listening to MLB News Today, AI-powered baseball coverage. I'm Cory with the story. The Phillies just fired their manager Rob Thompson mid-season, handing the job to Benchcoach Don Mattingley. That's the same move they made four years ago that sparked a World Series run. Now this $282 million roster sits at nine wins and 19 losses with little momentum. Mattingley steps into a squad with the third oldest lineup in baseball, averaging 30.2 years old. Stars like Catcher J.T. Rho Muto at 35 and shortstop TRIA Turner at 33 are struggling and even younger guys like Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm are way below par. 12 players from that hot 2022 team are back, but 11 are performing worse. Thompson wasn't the one who built this roster and players loved his steady style after the fiery Joe Gerardi. He led them to the playoffs all four years, including that epic pinnion chase. But the team went stale, blowing leads in recent post seasons, and fresh energy was

1:03hard to find by April. Pitching's a mess too, with the worst rotation ERA at 5.80. They cut Taiwan Walker in his 9.13 mark, eating $10 million while Aranola's at 6.03 and still owed. Nearly 50 million. A sack wheelers recovering from surgery and the bullpen lacks closers. The fillies are locked into this aging core with no big prospects ready to ride in. Still, if Mattingley gets a few bats average and pitchers go deeper, they could flip the script like the Metzmine. For better or worse, they're done chasing that 2022 vibe.