Third of the season is over, and Gabe Kapler gets a B+.
Let’s go with Bplus.
At the end of this meandering musing on Gabe Kapler’s job performance as manager of the Giants, you’re going to ask for a grade, so there you go, Bplus. It’s meaningless, not even a midterm grade, but onethird of the season is in the bag and the playoffs loom.
A Bplus for a sub.500 manager? The Giants are 812 after Wednesday’s 51 loss to the Astros. Look, if we’re grading
based mainly on record, Steve Kerr gets a Dminus.
Things can change in a hurry, as I mentioned to Kerr when he delivered my pizza. If the Giants call up Joey Bart by this weekend, Kapler and Farhan Zaidi each get an Aplus for the season, just for making everyone happy.
Speaking of Kerr, whatever works is genius, whatever doesn’t is foolish bumbling. On Kerr’s first day in 2014 he had the Warriors doing highschool passing drills. They whined and mocked, then highschooled their way to the NBA championship.
Kapler has one of his coaches hit tennis balls to his infielders at close range, to hone their reflexes. So far, they’re fielding like they’ve never seen a baseball. Maybe he should try golf balls.
But that’s Kapler, managing and teaching outside the box, which is what Zaidi hired him to do.
For the critics and lunaticfringers, Kapler is a moving target.
He yanks his starters too soon!
On Sunday, Kapler pulled starter Kevin Gausman with a 20 lead in the seventh, after 80 pitches, still firing high90s, and the bullpen blew it.
He stays with his starters too long!
On Friday, Kapler left Jeff Samardzija in in the fifth, to eat innings, and he put the first three batters on base.
So Kapler is either maddeningly inconsistent or consistently unwilling to be a cookiecutter skipper. Take your pick.
Kapler’s moves do tend to elevate the pulse rates of the fans, which is good, considering how boring and meaningless this season could have been — and still might become.
A hefty part of the fan base was predisposed to criticize Kapler from the beginning, anyway, for three reasons. One, he’s not Bruce Bochy. Two, he didn’t set the world on fire as manager of the Phillies. Three, he arrived with some cocanutty baggage.
Kapler has done some good managing, often overlooked. He left Johnny Cueto in too long against the Dodgers and Cueto gave up a threerun bomb. Ouch. But Kapler brought in Tony Watson to pop up Max Muncy, used Tyler Rogers to mow through the seventh and eighth, and brought in Trevor Gott for the save of the onerun victory.
Had that been Bochy, the choir would be singing, “Look at Boch play his bullpen like a violin!” But it was Kapler, so the buzz was about the Cueto move.
Kapler isn’t afraid to manage. He’ll start early, yanking levers with the zeal of a submarine captain whose boat has sprung a leak. Not Bochylike. But Zaidi didn’t want Bochy Junior.
“He manages with his pants on fire,” one baseball guy said. Well, when you’re in an analyticsheavy organization, and you’ve got a 13person coaching staff, and you’re got a transitional mishmash of a roster, you need to stay light on your feet.
Kapler has provided few surprises so far, but we have learned a couple things about him.
He’s got convictions, beyond baseball. By kneeling during the national anthem in the season opener, Kapler clearly stated his beliefs. Subsequently we learned that he inherited a strong sense of social justice from his parents, who were heavily involved in the ’60s protest movement.
Kapler’s Twitter wallpaper features Jimi Hendrix and Martin Luther King Jr., and a snippet of the poem “If—” by Rudyard Kipling: “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowances for their doubting, too.”
Kapler does make those allowances. When his players have criticized him — pitchers complaining about undefined roles and quick hooks — and when writers challenge his moves, and when fans cry out in anguish, Kapler keeps his cool.
He has no problem explaining his moves and his thinking to reporters, in detail, calmly, without sarcasm or peeve. Those who know Kapler say he’s simply not a blowtop, and there’s something to be said about a calm skipper in choppy waters.
I kind of miss the oldschool charm of a Tommy Lasorda spitting out, “I’m sorry I didn’t have a bleeping phone to the press box so I could call you and ask you what the bleep I should do.” Kapler is the epitome of new cool.
The Giants probably benefit from Kapler’s twoyear stint managing the Phillies, where his style wasn’t a universal hit with players. This could be similar to the deal with Kyle Shanahan, who grated on some players early in his first headcoaching gig, then made conscious adjustments to his relationship tools.
So, a Bplus so far for Kapler, upgradeable to Platinum A if the Giants win the World Series. But the real grading period starts next season, when the Giants define their roster and MLB returns from Mars.