Flores contributes quietly
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
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 baserunning 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 setup 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 newage, 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-tothird, 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 minor-league 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 firstbase coach. But he has taken Kapler’s daily analytics and demand for precision and has helped limit the give-away losses that had been routine during so many recent seasons of incompetence.