Phillies need a more proactive version of Rob Thomson next October

Take this as a strong indicator that Rob Thomson will be returning for a fourth season as Phillies manager.

He and Dave Dombrowski are scheduled to address the media separately next Tuesday at a news conference at Citizens Bank Park.

The yearly postmortem press conference is happening a lot sooner than expected. Most of the blame rightfully falls on the lineup’s inability to string together hits in three out of the four games against the Mets and the bullpen’s stunning collapse after a strong season.

Both of those areas should be addressed during the offseason to varying extents. The Phillies will need at least two more high leverage relievers with Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez both becoming…