Philadelphia Phillie's Manager Rob Thomson on Day1 of the London Series and the bounce and differences in the pitch in London compared to America
08/06/24
London Stadium, London, UK
08/06/24
London Stadium, London, UK
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SportsTranscript
00:00Hello. Welcome to London. Thank you. What do you think about having to play games here?
00:06I think it's great. We're promoting baseball internationally and as I said yesterday, if
00:14every country on the planet could have competitive baseball, this league would be really, really
00:21good. So anytime you can do that, I think it's great for the game.
00:26Do you think the MLB has to catch up with the NFL and the NBA in terms of growing the game internationally?
00:32Oh, I don't know. I don't know the answer to that question. But I do know that MLB is doing a really
00:40good job of trying to promote it and trying to grow the game.
00:46Final question for me, if I may. Do you see this World Series happening in other European
00:52countries?
00:53I hope so. I don't know what the facilities are like in other countries, but this is a great
00:59facility here. Murray Cook and his crew from MLB have come in here and they've turned a soccer
01:08field into a baseball field. And really comparable to any fields we play on in the United States.
01:17So it's great.
01:18Yeah, I was actually just going to ask about the dimensions and the way the field plays. Is there
01:23anything you guys have identified that is unusual or out of the ordinary that you have to look for?
01:27The turf is a little bit spongier than the turf that we see in the U.S. But, you know, center field's
01:35392. The gaps are 370, which are a little, you know, the center field's a little bit shorter than
01:41what we normally have, but the gaps are a little bit deeper. And it's 330 down the line, so it plays
01:46fair. So as I was talking to Murray Cook when we first got in here, he said center field's a little
01:51short, but because the gaps are a little bit deeper, the actual area, square footage in the outfield
01:57is pretty similar to any ballpark we play in the U.S.
02:02Rojas, is he all good? Is this just a day or what's going on with him?
02:06Oh, just day off. Yeah, he'll be playing tomorrow.
02:09Hey, Rob, can you bring us up to speed on Trey and his status and also what Marsh is doing back home?
02:18So Marsh, I'll start with Marsh. Marsh went to Lehigh Valley today to do baseball activities.
02:24He'll be there today and tomorrow, and then once we get back to the States, we'll figure out whether
02:29he's going to go to Redding to continue or join us in Boston to do just his rehab work.
02:37Trey today, there's a soccer field right outside the weight room. They were supposed to take him over there
02:44and run him on there, so it's natural grass. And then he's going to do his normal ground ball work,
02:51normal BP in the cage, probably won't hit on the field. And then once we get back to Boston,
03:00we'll ramp up again. I don't have a date on when he's going to play.
03:05Could he go out over the weekend on a rehab, or does he need a rehab?
03:10He may not need a rehab.
03:18Yes, Rob, I'm sure Brandon really hated missing the trip to London.
03:22Did you have any comments from him before he made the trip over?
03:26And one other question. It has nothing to do with baseball.
03:28Who do you like, Oilers or Panthers in the Stanley Cup final?
03:33Well, the Panthers are pretty good. I'll start with that question.
03:36The Panthers are probably a little bit more suited for the hockey playoffs than Edmonton,
03:42although Edmonton's really, really talented. But I'm rooting for Edmonton because I'm a Canadian citizen,
03:48and we haven't had a Canadian champion in years.
03:5230 years.
03:53Yeah, so that's why. But yeah, with Brandon and Cody Clemmons, the timing was just awful.
04:04It was the day before we were leaving, and I told them that because they can't do baseball activity
04:11once we get over there, because we have the two days off, it would kind of hurt them on their comeback.
04:18So I said, you know, we're not going to take you. So they were disappointed, but they understood.
04:28Obviously, you know, we've spoke a lot about London and the appeal of it and stuff.
04:32Do you think it maybe adds a little bit more spice onto the game, knowing that you're playing a divisional rival,
04:36maybe just for casual fans to see a game with a bit more on the line in that regard?
04:40Oh, I think so, yeah. And what was it? Cardinals and Cubs last year, so the same thing.
04:46Yankees and Red Sox the time before. So I think MLB does a good job of lining those divisional rivals up
04:54to create some spice, to create some energy in the stadium.
04:58And they know that the Mets fans travel, and our fans certainly travel.
05:02So I think we're going to have a nice, raucous crowd out there.
05:06And just looking into the all-star break as well, it's been a remarkable season for you guys so far.
05:11Is there anything that you've learned between last year and this year,
05:14like differences in the team or anything that they've taken away from last year?
05:18From last year? Well, they're highly motivated.
05:21You know, we've got a lot of players that were here in 22 and 23, and we added some players this year.
05:27So there's players from 23 to this year as well.
05:31They're highly motivated because, you know, we got close.
05:35And especially last year, we were supposed to win that last series against Arizona
05:41and get into the World Series, and we didn't.
05:44So our guys are motivated, and they want to finish the job off.
05:49Yeah, Rob. By wandering around the stadium in the past few days, we've seen a lot of Phillies fans.
06:02Really, the prevalence of people with Phillies hats, red hats, has been amazing for me.
06:08Did you expect to have this much fan base in Europe?
06:13I did. I mean, because I know how passionate our fans are.
06:17And I know they travel.
06:19I mean, there's a lot of places we go to in the U.S. where it seems like it's a home game for us.
06:24That's how many people travel.
06:26So I really did expect a lot of people to come from Philadelphia and the Philadelphia area.
06:31Do you feel a particular responsibility to win these games to make them happy?
06:35I feel a responsibility to win every game.
06:41Hi, Rob. Just a quick question.
06:43Obviously, with the London series being in the middle of the MLB season,
06:47do you say that it gives you both any advantages or disadvantages playing the Mets on a field
06:54that's completely new and different to what you're used to week in, like week in, week out?
06:59Yeah, I don't think it really matters.
07:02I know that whenever we play at home, it doesn't matter who we're playing.
07:09I feel like we have an advantage because of our fan base.
07:12But as far as the playing surface or where we play, I don't think it really matters.
07:24Rob, about Marsh, you said he's going to go to Lehigh and then could go to Reading.
07:28Would that be to begin a rehab assignment?
07:30Is that what you were saying?
07:32Well, no, just to continue baseball activities.
07:35But if it were time to start a rehab assignment, that's probably where he'd do it
07:40because Lehigh is going on the road.
07:42And then why don't you think Trey would need a rehab assignment?
07:45Because he can refuse it.
07:50And that would probably happen?
07:52I would think.
08:03Hi, Rob. You and Carlos go way back.
08:07And for his first season as a manager and his start to the season,
08:12it's been as tough as they come in some ways.
08:15Have you been able to maybe chat to him around the London series in the time
08:20leading up to the two matches just to maybe put an arm around his shoulder
08:25or just have a chat generally about how the season's gone so far?
08:28So we've played them twice already before this series,
08:32and I didn't see him or didn't talk to him either series.
08:35So we come to London, and this is where I talk to him.
08:39We spoke between the workouts yesterday.
08:43Yeah, I don't think I need to put my arm around him because I think he's so
08:47level-headed and so poised, and he understands the game.
08:50He understands the ebbs and flows of the game.
08:53He's in a really good space right now.
08:55He's calm, cool.
08:58Yeah, he's fine.
09:01With your history together and your knowledge of him
09:05and as he's gone into his first management role,
09:09is there anything you can share just about your confidence of him as a coach?
09:14Well, Carlos is a guy that he cares about players,
09:21and he understands that it's not about him, it's about the players.
09:24And whatever you can do to help them, I mean a rising tide lifts all ships.
09:29So he's helping other people, and if you do that, then everybody's ship rises.
09:34And he's honest.
09:38He has great respect for everyone, including players.
09:42And he's very knowledgeable, and he works extremely hard.
09:46So I don't think there's anything that could get in his way of success.
09:54Thank you.
09:56We're out of time.
09:58We'll have some lunch more.
10:00Thank you.