Kapler not managing to build job security
A newage baseball scientist for a skeptical fan base, Southern California-raised with a wintertime tan, an outsider’s outsider, Gabe Kapler was destined to manage the Phillies as if behind in the count.
Before he’d ever worked a game in Citizens Bank Park, he was booed by a sellout crowd. Three games into his career, in one of those Ripken-esque baseball records that will last forever, he was given an emergency vote of confidence from his general manager. He would take 46 syllables to say the same thing Charlie Manuel could project with half a grunt.
For a while last season, Kapler overcame that. His managerial methods allowed him to keep the Phillies in first place at the All-Star break, helping him build momentum in Manager of the Year polls. But a dramatic, nine-game September losing streak would drag the 2018 Phillies back to where baseball demanded they belonged. And with that, Kapler would be made to regain those popularity points.
That has not been easy. With John Middleton going deep-wallet fishing in an effort, as he’d announced, to get his darn World Series trophy back, the 2019 Phillies were set up to delight. For $330,000,000, spread over 13 years, they acquired the National League’s signature longball hero, Bryce Harper. For a package including a top minor-league prospect, they acquired premier catcher J.T. Realmuto. Jean Segura, a sitting All-Star, was included in a deal for Carlos Santana. Andrew McCutchen was signed at a hardly thrifty price.
With that, it seemed that all Kapler would need to do was run a familiar batting order out every day, hope that his pitching was not too far south of average, and try not to use too many phrases better suited for a computer seminar than a corner taproom. Do that, and he would be able to sneak through the season without a peep from what was expected to be a string of standingroom-only throngs. But after falling, 5-3, to Miami Saturday, the Phillies had lost their last six and 10 of their last 12. In 23 days, they had gone from a 3.5-game lead in their division to being 4.5 behind the Braves and in second place. Segura had irritated the fans with his reluctance to hustle out of the batter’s box, a habit some insist contributed to McCutchen being lost for the season with a knee injury suffered on the basepaths.
Though the bullpen has been decimated by injury, Kapler’s inability to cope has been horrifying. Few pitchers know their roles, or if they have a role at all.
There are reasons the Phillies had slipped in recent weeks. There are reasons to believe they will recover, too. But if the trend hovers and his team continues to slide in the standings, Kapler has to remember: He already cashed his vote-of-confidence voucher.
“If we perform like we’re capable of performing, we beat most teams most of the time,” he said after a Friday night loss. “If we don’t perform like we’re capable of performing it doesn’t matter who’s out there, they have a chance to beat us.”
The Phillies have the overall skill to beat anyone. But if the Braves are continuing to open standings separation by the All-Star break, Kapler will be in some measure of peril. In recent days, he’s tried many things to end the tumble. He banished Maikel Franco to 11th-string third baseman, behind even Brad Miller, who was signed five minutes ago. He moved Harper and Rhys Hoskins to the top of the order, a move that paid off Saturday with backto-back third-inning home runs.
And then, just when he was out of other ideas, Kapler had himself ejected for the first time as a manager. With appropriate fire and style after Scott Kingery was called out swinging despite being hit on the hand with a pitch, Kapler shouted down plate ump Chris Guccione, screamed at Mike Everitt when he approached from first base, then seemed to point at the other two umpires who never bothered to rush in to help. Suddenly, the ever-heckled Kapler was being given a standing ovation from a capacity crowd of 44,722 being lifted from a month-long sleep.
“What I believe in is defending our players,” Kapler said. “And I thought Scott got hit by a pitch and did not swing the bat. And I felt like the right thing to do in that situation was defend Scott. I’ll continue to fight for our players.”
The initiative seemed worthwhile. It didn’t end the losing streak. It didn’t even inspire Cesar Hernandez to hustle out of the box on an eighth-inning pop that should have been a double.
“Look, I think we’re as prepared as we can be,” Hoskins said. “I think at some point it falls on us. Obviously the coaching staff is usually the first to get fingers pointed at, but we’re as prepared as we can be. We haven’t gotten many timely hits. That stands out. When that happens game after game after game it just stings a little more.”
Kapler should be careful not to trust his job security to an inept coaching staff unable to properly direct basepath traffic, shake hitters out of slumps or concoct a useful bullpen work schedule. Yet, publicly at least, he is solidly behind Dusty Wathan, Chris Young and, mysteriously, overmatched hitting coach John Mallee.
“I think we have the right personnel in place,” he said. “I think we have the right coaches in place. Our processes and our practices need some refinement. There’s no coaching staff in baseball that works harder than our staff does and we are going to work to find solutions.”
He keeps taking swings. But he never can seem to get ahead on that count.