A Tale of Two Kaplers
What a difference a year makes.
To start the 2018 season, Gabe Kapler struggled as a first-year manager. He pulled Aaron Nola after he was cruising on Opening Day, ultimately costing the Phillies a win. He tried bringing pitchers into the game who weren’t warmed up. His lineup was constantly being shuffled (according to Baseball Reference, the Phillies had 95 total lineups – excluding pitchers – in 2018). Carlos Santana smashed a TV at the end of the season because some guys were playing Fortnite. Worst of all, the team collapsed at the end of the season, going 15-30 down the stretch after being in first place as late as August 12th.
Fans called for Kapler to be fired all season long.
2019, even though we’re only a handful of games into the season, has been a completely different story for Kapler.
For starters, the same lineup has been used for the first five games of the season, leading to a lot of runs scored, and wins, including an opening series sweep against the Atlanta Braves. To be fair, it’s pretty easy to keep a consistent lineup when your top five are Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura, Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, and JT Realmuto, plus having a hot Maikel Franco hitting eighth. Now he won’t have the exact same lineup every game – that’s impossible over the course of a 162-game season – but a base lineup can shift Kapler’s focus to other things.
He’s going to use a lot of pitchers in games, which is the new norm across all of Major League Baseball. Already, however, Kapler is putting more faith in his starters. For instance, he let Nola and Jake Arrieta go six innings each when they both didn’t have their best stuff (five and six walks, respectively). This faith should inspire the staff to perform better, while not taxing the bullpen with unnecessary innings.
Then there’s his connection with his players this year. Just look at Kapler’s reaction to Hoskins being hit by a pitch on Sunday Night Baseball this past week.
Speaking to the media after the game he said, “it really pisses me off when balls go underneath Rhys Hoskins’ chin. It really bugs me. He’s one of our leaders. He is, in many ways, the heartbeat of our club. It really bothers me when it happens.”
Kapler was visibly upset when that happened. When players know their manager has their back like that, they tend to play better.
Or the fans can look at the energy in the dugout this year to see the kind of culture Kapler is creating. Players are at the top step. Unique home run celebrations. This team is having fun right now, and the weather hasn’t even warmed up yet. And while a lot of that can be attributed to a talented ball club, it’s also a testament to the manager.
Look, Kapler is always going to be under the microscope after his disaster of a season last year. But according to bench coach Rob Thompson, Kapler learns from his mistakes. And so far this season, that seems that’s the case.
It’s time for the fans to reign back the Kapler disdain. After all, it wasn’t too long ago that a different Phillies manager was viewed as a bumbling Southerner who didn’t know how to make a double switch. It was only a few years later that Charlie Manuel led the Phillies to their second World Series title in team history. So who knows? Maybe Kapler will be the next manager to lead a parade down Broad Street.
Photo: @MaineBatCo (via Twitter)
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