Mackanin sees a cooler, more stable Herrera
PHILADELPHIA » Just four more games. That’s all Phils manager Pete Mackanin has left before taking a much deserved (but he hopes not extended) offseason vacation.
With his team having gone into a game against the Washington Nationals Tuesday night still not assured of falling shy of the 100-loss mark, you might not think Mackanin is deserving of much. But imagine having to manage a guy like Odubel Herrera for the last two years.
Herrera, an All-Star player who was hitting a very respectable .281 with 14 home runs and 32 RBIs entering the game Tuesday, has actually kept his odd antics to a minimum of late. But that’s only because, Mackanin will tell you, the manager has worked to get things that way.
Yet the guy still has his moments, such as one Monday night in the opener of this series.
“At 0-1, he tries to bunt,” Mackanin said of a Herrera at-bat in the fourth inning Monday. “It’s 0-2, we’re in there (saying), ‘What’s he thinking about?’ Next pitch — home run. He set (pitcher A.J. Cole) up. He had them all set up. Right where he wanted them.”
Mackanin has seen too many baserunning mistakes and other moments of inanity from his center fielder. He’s also seen moments of brilliance in the field from him, and indicates that Herrera — perhaps misunderstood to some degree — is “a good kid.”
Batting out of the sixth spot in the order again Tuesday night, Herrera was hitless in four trips to the plate with two strikeouts in a 4-1 Phillies victory. He did not seem to let it get to him.
“You have to manage everybody differently,” Mackanin said. “Everybody’s different. And he’s certainly different. But I like to think I got through to him a little bit, because he hasn’t been jogging around here and there. He’s like everybody else, he mopes once in a while, going out to his position (after) having a bad at-bat. But he’s been pretty good.
“I just tried to talk to him as much as I can and point things out to him. He’s a good kid. The last time I talked to him, I said, ‘Remember, it’s easy to play the game for everybody when you’re hitting .300 and everything’s going your way. The hard part is when you’re in a little slump or you’re not doing well. Not to pout or understand it’s part of the game and you have to continue to play hard, even when you’re not swinging the bat well.
“I’ve told him that a few times and I feel like he’s responded.”
*** Nick Williams took a bench seat Tuesday night as Rhys Hoskins was moved to left field with Tommy Joseph starting at first base.
That certainly wasn’t anything Williams earned, since he was hitting .305 in the month of September, and that was before getting a pinch single in the eighth inning. Yet the matter of strikeouts is still a sensitive one for the rookie outfielder, as he has KO’d 93 times in only 296 at-bats with the Phillies.
According to Mackanin, part of what makes Williams a good hitter and RBI man is also what makes him a strikeout target — his freeswinging ways.
“I think they’re trying to exploit that,” Mackanin said. “He strikes out an awful lot, but he’s a dangerous hitter. If you make a mistake he’s going to get you. He knows what he was to do, he has to tone it down a little bit but stay aggressive. So that’s something he’s working on and that’s not easy to do, but that’s what he’s trying to improve upon.”
*** NOTES » After a 42-game injury absence (and purported bout with illness Monday), Bryce Harper finally got back into the lineup for the Nationals Tuesday. On an innings limitation, Harper would go hitless in two trips but did get on via a walk before being replaced in the bottom of the fifth . ... Adam Morgan breezed through the seventh, striking out two along the way. Making the club out of spring training only because of a shortage of lefties, Morgan was soon demoted. But since being recalled he has turned into a real bullpen weapon. Mackanin Monday called Morgan one of the team’s biggest (and most pleasant) of surprises.