But you seem puzzled by something that Thomson publicly announced in advanced. That they had six games equally split against LHP and RHP and he was going to run a platoon through that period as everybody got settled in. He continued to do it last night but has now publicly stated things will start to change as of tonight. No doubt, he is coddling some vets and big salaries, what else is new in baseball? But I think he's also playing the long game. Outright benching Kepler or telling Nick he's only going to play five games a week just like that is probably not good clubhouse management, even if the players are in the wrong.
And Dombrowski also publicly stated that he is not the sort of front office guy who tells his manager what to do with the guys he acquires. But if he really truly wanted Bader to play every day, he could quietly be pushing for it. Same with replacing Nick more.
It's also possible Thomson actually wants Dombrowski to DFA Kepler, and another week or two of failure while there isn't really anyone else for the roster spot [it is technically Bohm's, being occupied by Wilson] will make them finally give up. Certainly a lot of the writers saw that as a likely outcome when Bader was acquired.
The problem is Bader is still not such a big bat that the Phillies don't need the better version of Nick again, especially with Bohm out.
I just don't see the point in second-guessing or nit-picking the manager during a 5-2 run since the trade deadline. Whatever deficiencies may have been on the field due to Thomson's line-up choices, clearly his overall handling of the roster remains flawless [over these seven games and as the winningest Phillies manager of all-time].
