NL DIVISION SERIES: DODGERS VS PHILLIES

October 4, 2025

Rob Thomson

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Dodgers - 5, Phillies - 3

Q. The fact that it's been called a strain for Bader, what can you tell us about how serious it is and when he did it?

ROB THOMSON: We're going to get some imaging tomorrow. It's actually his groin. It's groin tightness is what it is. Originally we thought it was a hammy, but it's not, it's groin. We'll get the image done tomorrow. We'll know tomorrow and re-evaluate. He did it on Stott's single, pulling into second base.

Q. What options do you have if he's out? Is it Marsh in center? Do you trust Kepler in center? I know you put him out there for an inning tonight.

ROB THOMSON: It's probably Marsh in center, but I trust Kep out there too.

Q. What went into the decision to bring Robertson back out after getting the one out to finish the sixth, I believe it was?

ROB THOMSON: I wanted to make sure we had a lefty on Ohtani. So anybody else, if you bring another righty in, he's got to face Ohtani.

So that's really what it came down to. Bobby didn't throw that many pitches. He was good to go.

Q. How close were you to replacing Cristopher before you replaced him? And did you factor in the fact, I'm not sure about this, but David I don't think has had an up/down this season?

ROB THOMSON: I did think about bringing him in on Kiké, but he had handled Kiké pretty good.

Q. Cristopher had?

ROB THOMSON: Yes. Pitch count was still intact. And I thought that Call had actually better at-bats against Sanchy than Kiké -- and really trying to get him through the inning.

Q. What about Robertson's up/downs? Did that factor into your decision?

ROB THOMSON: A little bit, but he only threw a couple of pitches, so I thought he was good to go.

Q. What did you think about the at-bats from your top three guys in the lineup? Seemed like Ohtani handled them well.

ROB THOMSON: Yeah, he really pitched them well. A lot of off-speed pitches, dotted his fastball. Ohtani was good tonight. He really was. You tip your cap and move on.

Q. What did you like about what Sanchez did, especially against the top of the order?

ROB THOMSON: He was, again, really good. The strike-throwing ability, the change-up was filthy tonight. What was he, 65 percent strikes, 18 whiffs, 17 out of 24 first-pitch. He was fantastic. He really was.

Q. Have you been avoiding using Strahm in messy innings coming in with inherited runners? I don't remember a lot of that the last few weeks. Did that factor into that decision at all?

ROB THOMSON: No, not really because I trust him there. Really, he strikes out Ohtani, gets a pop-up from Betts. And he just missed his pitch. Left it out over the plate. And Hernandez laid a good swing on it.

I trust him in those situations. He's experienced. He's been through it before.

Q. Obviously going to Sosa there, felt like you were doing it to win the game because it's so important. How do you bounce back from this one? It's a tough one. You get to Ohtani early and you have a lead late and you let it slip away.

ROB THOMSON: It's a tough loss. We've got to shake it off and come out here on Monday and get after it again. It's a shorter series. It's not a seven-game series. We've got to put it behind us. These guys are pretty good at that.

Q. You saw what the Dodgers did, going three starters today. Was there any contemplation to going Ranger either in the sixth or the seventh inning?

ROB THOMSON: No.