Rob Thomson caught some flak from Philadelphia Phillies fans and pundits for not emerging from the dugout to argue a controversial called strike three on catcher J.T. Realmuto in a 10-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. So contentious was home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo's call that both the Phillies and Giants broadcasts were in agreement on its seeming egregiousness.
Speaking to reporters in the dugout at Citizens Bank Park before the second game of the series against the Giants on Tuesday, Thomson explained why he didn't risk an ejection to argue the call against Realmuto.
"I generally don't let things that I can't control bother me," Thomson said, per Devan Kaney of Philadelphia’s 94WIP. "And I think it's important to stay in the game and stay calm for your club. There's a time when you may want to rally the troops a little bit, but I didn't feel like that was the time."
Rob Thomson on if he thought about getting tossed after the strike called on JT Realmuto last night: pic.twitter.com/uK5aan1HCO
— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) April 15, 2025
"Not necessarily," Thomson said when asked if April was too early to light a fire under a team with an ejection. "But, I mean, it was a ball but it wasn't egregious I didn't think. And I can't tell from the side anyway."
Umpire Scorecards, which uses MLB's advanced pitch tracking data to rate the accuracy of home-plate umpires, in its evaluation of the Phillies-Giants game showed that the called strike on Realmuto was well off of the plate. The site also determined that the call was among the most impactful in terms of largest changes in run expectancy.
The controversial call occurred in the bottom of the seventh inning with the Phillies mounting a two-out rally down 8-4. Philadelphia had two men on base—and the tying run would have came to the plate had Realmuto walked instead of being called out on strikes.
The Phillies (9-7) have lost two straight games and are 4-6 in their last 10 contests.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rob Thomson Explained Why He Didn't Argue Contentious Called Strike on J.T. Realmuto.
