Baserunning opening new paths to success
NEW YORK » Jose David Flores didn’t watch the Phillies lose 99 times, then 91 times, then 96 times in the last three seasons.
He wasn’t paying attention as one manager gave it a try, then another.
He didn’t know exactly why one team could play such ineffective baseball for so long.
He just knew what he heard from Gabe Kapler: Get. It. Right.
“No doubt,” Flores will say. Of all the reasons the Phillies have gone from last place to first in the N.L. East, Flores’ contributions are among the least likely to be celebrated. That’s how it should be in baseball, where at any level there has always been one mandate to the first-base coach: Don’t be noticed. So there will not soon be any Jose David Flores teeshirt giveaway nights. But since the first-base coach typically has one more responsibility, his impact on the Phils’ rise is real. Finally, after too many years, or ever since Davey Lopes was allowed to bolt to the Dodgers after being denied a reasonable raise in 2010, the Phillies have a responsible, successful, professional base-running attack. And that’s Flores’ assignment too.
“Flo has been awesome,” Kapler was saying in the Citi Field dugout Wednesday, before a game against the Mets. “He prepares our baserunners as well as anybody. At times, our baserunning has been a strength. And in particular, we haven’t given up a lot of outs on the bases over the course of the last six weeks, which is really important.”
On the day he was hired, Kapler wasn’t particularly specific about his plan. Sometimes, he said, he would manage by his gut, others by detailed analytics. But crammed into that first press conference was a specific image and a timely baseball promise: “We will,” he said, “make razor turns around the bases.”
As Kapler has used power hitters near the top and bottom of his order and not necessarily the middle, and as he has used closers early and set-up men late, and as he has introduced a fresh baseball vocabulary to a market legendarily reluctant to accept much new, he has been characterized as something of a new-age, baseball wild man. But laced through all of that have been two strong examples of his demand for simple, effective, professional baseball, the kind that would have worked in any of the major-leagues’ three centuries. One: Plate discipline has allowed the Phils to have three players rank among the top 16 in the major-leagues in walks. Two: Their baserunning has ceased to be a sorry comedy skit.
In their last two seasons, the Phillies were caught stealing a total of 70 times. In 2016, Cesar Hernandez was caught 13 times alone. Entering play Wednesday, the Phils had been caught only 15 times total. Beyond that, though, they have seldom made disastrous baserunning blunders. And in a program still in development, becoming more professional in such fundamental tasks is vital.
“We have actually made good turns,” Kapler said. “And Carlos Santana has done a really good job of going first-to-third, by way of example, and scoring from first on doubles. I could point to other guys as well. Cesar has done a really good job on the bases. So across the board, we have done a great job. And Jose David Flores certainly deserves credit for that.”
Once a manager for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, Flores had been an infield instructor with the Cubs from 2013-2017. During the 1990s, he had five minorleague playing seasons in the Houston system, none special. So he was anything but a recognizable figure when Kapler picked him to replace Phillies legend Mickey Morandini as the baserunning instructor and first-base coach. But he has taken Kapler’s daily analytics and demand for precision and has helped limit the giveaway losses that had been routine during so many recent seasons of incompetence.
“We wanted to be smart baserunners and not give away outs on the bases,” Flores said. “The players are starting to understand the value of outs in a nine-inning game. And if we can continue to improve in that aspect, I think we are going to be a better baseball team.”
The Phillies are not dramatically swift. But whatever speed they do have is not wasted. Typically, when third-base coach Dusty Wathan sends a runner, he scores. And when Flores calculates the likelihood of a breaking pitch in a giving situation and sends a green-light signal, a runner on first usually winds up on second.
“For some reason, back in the day, it was about stealing a lot of bases,” Flores said. “And we are going to continue to put our players in position to succeed, not only by stealing bases, but by taking advantage of the chance to take an extra base every time we have a chance. If that means going first-to-third on a single because an outfielder is not going hard after a baseball that goes through the infield, then we are going to do that.
“Those are the little things in the course of a game that help you win ballgames.”
It helps to have Aaron Nola, an All-Star pitcher. It helps when the front office spends to add the veteran values of Santana and Jake Arrieta. It helps that Kapler’s shifts and lineups have worked as the numbers had convinced him they would.
But the Phillies are in first place, not on their way to another 90 losses, because of their command of traditionally vital fundamentals, too. They are in first because Kapler, and Flores too, has taught them how to play baseball right.