Giants’ Kapler has unique style, and it works
Giants manager Gabe Kapler brings a unique style to the job. At 48, Kapler looks to be in even better shape than he was as a player and has added some tattoos over the years, including a large rose on the back of his left hand that’s a tribute to his late father, Michael.
He favors designer sunglasses with a dark tint and keeps his beard carefully manicured. When the Giants had a day off last week, he spent most of it on his bike.
Kapler also presides over a 16-member coaching staff that includes a director of pitching, a pitching coach, an assistant pitching coach, and a bullpen coach.
There’s also a quality assurance coach and a director of video coaching. The Giants have so many coaches they all can’t be in the dugout at the same time.
It works. The Giants are 62 games over .500 under Kapler over four seasons and went into the weekend trailing the Dodgers by only 2½ games in the National League West.
After getting outbid by the Yankees for Aaron Judge, the Giants have a team with talent evenly spread throughout the lineup. Kapler has leaned into that theme with his players.
“Consider yourself a puzzle piece, a piece of something that needs to come together and fit together nicely rather than having any one piece take up too much space,” he said.
“If you view yourself that way, you have a really good chance to play as a team.”
Kapler played for the Red Sox from 2003-06, part of a 12-year career. Theo Epstein, ever a visionary, named Kapler the manager of Single A Greenville in 2007.
Managing a team that included Daniel Bard, Jon Lester, and Josh Reddick, Kapler went 58-81 and returned to his playing career in 2008. But that one season lit a spark and he returned to managing with the Phillies in 2018.
Kapler finds it funny that he’s often mentioned as being a member of the 2004 Red Sox.
“So was Manny Ramirez, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez. There were a lot of really good baseball players on that team,” he said. “I just played a role and was lucky to be a part of those guys.”
Kapler has fond memories of Boston and keeps track of the Red Sox and former teammate Alex Cora.
“It’s been a lot of fun to watch, actually,” he said. “I think Alex has done a really nice job with mixing and matching a really talented roster with some really talented pitching.
“I know it wasn’t the easiest offseason and there have been some challenges. But all in all, to be in a position to make a run at the playoffs is a cool thing for the Sox.”
Kapler sees similarities in Masataka Yoshida’s approach at the plate and that of his rookie center fielder Luis Matos, who has a .724 OPS since July
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“A nice clean low line-drive swing,” he said. “Not overwhelming power yet but he can drive the baseball. The hitter that Luis is right now doesn’t mean that’s the hitter he’s always going to be. I think that’s true of hitters who don’t have all that much experience at the major league level.”
Red Sox fans were very much a presence at Oracle Park last weekend. With MLB’s new scheduling format, the teams will play every season.
“That’s a very good thing,” Kapler said. “You have two very committed, very passionate fan bases on two separate coasts with much different styles. Different style fans and different style cities but a long, rich history. Two very original franchises.
“Just as a fan of the game I like seeing their uniform and our uniform on the same field.”