Rob Thomson Needs To Stop Tinkering With The Lineup

Just as in any form of life, trust is something that needs to be earned. Sports is certainly no different, whether it is organizational heads trusting coaches, coaches trusting players, or players trusting teammates. It's earned in different ways, of course, from performance to never-ending effort. Phillies manager Rob Thomson has shown where he has the most trust in his baseball team throughout his year-plus tenure on the bench.

He believes in Kyle Scwharber as his leadoff hitter. Despite the left-fielder batting under .200 for much of the season and currently with an on-base percentage of just .314. Thomson mindlessly pencils in catcher J.T. Realmuto into the lineup so regularly that the 32-year-old had caught the equivalent of six more games than the next busiest catcher in the game at the All-Star break. And as long as Andrew Bellatti's arm is still attached to his shoulder, expect to see him four to five times a week on the mound. 

When it comes to some chinks in the armor of trust with Thomson, is there some surrounding to of his younger players? It appears so, at least at times. 

To be fair, regulars need breaks. Subs need at-bats to stay sharp. And sometimes struggles are broken with an extra day or two off. But why does it seem to me that the timing of his off days for his players come at odd times?  

In Bryson Stott there appears to be a player who should be penciled into the lineup every day, erased only if there is a nagging injury or big offensive drought. No scratches because the opposing pitcher is left-handed, as Thomson has done more than a couple of times this season. And the same rule goes for Brandon Marsh.  

Let the youngsters go, let them play, let them learn the situations of baseball that arise differently in every game. Coddling has to be over now. As the team battles to gain a wild card berth in defending their national league championship from a year ago. Having Stott and Marsh in the lineup works - plain and simple. And the time has come to let them do just that - work. 

When Buster Olney says anything Baseball related, it is worth listening to what he says. And luckily for Phillies fans, he has a lot of good things to say about the Phillies right now. He went on ESPN the other day with Philly's own Kevin Negandhi and sung their praises. Olney believes the Phillies are the team with the best chances to compete with the Braves. Especially considering we have not even seen Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, or Kyle Schwabrer play their best ball yet.

But he also alluded that they could be dangerous players at the deadline. And to get some insight into what he meant by that, The Anthony Gargano Show had him on today. Jamie Lynch and Andrew Salciunas filled in for Anthony and asked Buster Olney to expand on his thoughts about why he is so high on the Phillies, and also what he thought they would do at the deadline.

So will the Phillies be in on big names like Juan Soto, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, or Shohei Ohtani? Is that just wishful thinking? Is there a more realistic option he can see them making? Buster Olney got into that and more.

Before they asked Buster Olney about the big names, they had to touch on a realistic option first. And the first name that came to mind for him, was Cody Bellinger.

Olney mentioned Ohtani, so they had to ask. Will the Phillies be in on Ohtani? Dan Plesac reported that they may be in the mix on MLB Network, so they wanted to see what Buster thought.

The other hot names are Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. The Cardinals are bad for the first time in a long time. Leading to a ton of rumors that one of their superstars could be moved. But is there any smoke to that fire? Buster Olney poured a little bit of cold water on Phillies fans' dreams on landing one of those big bats.

The last name they asked about was Juan Soto. He took a flight back to Philadelphia for this weekend's Phillies-Padres series with the Phillies' other All-Stars. His name has also been floated for the Phillies. Buster Olney did question whether he is actually on the market though.

They also talked to him about how the Phillies match up with the Braves, the future of Aaron Nola, and more. You can listen to everything Buster Olney had to say below: