Are Coaching Changes Needed?
When talking about making an in-season coaching change, Klentak said, “you have to believe that if you’re going to do that that the alternative is better than your status quo. And I believe in our guys.”
That all sounds well and good. After all, you never really expected Klentak to come out and say people were getting fired if they didn’t win the next series. That’s just not what general managers do.
But you have to wonder if a change somewhere on the coaching staff is necessary. Kapler isn’t going anywhere. This season that is. For better or worse, Kapler and Klentak are married, and Klentak appears ready to let Kapler ride it out. After all, it’s not Kapler’s fault this team has absolutely no depth, forgot how to hit for awhile there, and couldn’t pitch to a bunch of little leaguers.
Sure, Kapler makes some boneheaded decisions with the ‘pen, and his lineup merry-go-round can’t be good for anyone, but his job is most likely safe.
His staff? Well, that’s a different story.
Pitching coach Chris Young, who was promoted into the role after last season, has had his hands full with this bunch. First off, his promotion was not well-received among his staff. That made his job that much harder from the jump.
The bullpen, which was once thought to be a strength of this team going into the season, has seen injury after injury on their way to ranking 10th in the National League with a 4.67 ERA.
The starting rotation was a big question mark leaving Spring Training. The team did nothing to address it all offseason and was perfectly content with Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Eflin. Fans knew from the get-go that this wasn’t a bunch that could get the job done, so it’s a little unfair to put this group’s failures entirely on Young.
But come on, the entire pitching staff has let up 133 home runs before last night’s game against the Mets, most in the National League and third most in baseball. According to Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com, that puts the Phillies on track for a Major League record 271 home runs this season (of course, there are a few teams this season that are on pace to break the record by even more).
For comparison’s sake, last year they only let up 171 home runs.
With an ace who is no longer ace-like and a staff that can’t keep the ball in the park, it’s pretty clear Young is not doing a great job. But it would be surprising to see him go mid-season. After the season, his head is on the chopping block. But canning the pitching coach mid-season is not as sexy as getting rid of the manager or hitting coach.
Which brings us to John Mallee. Mallee is in his second year as hitting coach with the Phillies, but his first year with a full roster of Major League talent.
Bryce Harper. Rhys Hoskins. J.T. Realmuto. Jean Segura. Scott Kingery. Jay Bruce. Andrew McCutchen. This group, and the rest of the hitters should be better than 10th in the NL in average at .244, 9th in OPS at .741, 11th in home runs with only 95, and 9th in runs with 373.
Bluntly put, that’s unacceptable for this team.
What makes matters even worse is that this team can’t hit fastballs anymore, according to an article on The Athletic.
Before Monday’s game against New York, Kapler preached to his team to look for the fastball and smack the cover off it. And that approach led to the Phillies tallying 19 hits and 13 runs that game.
But, really? The team needs to be told to look for the fastball at the Major League level, and stop swinging at junk? That’s something you learn as a kid.
Now, maybe all of this is for naught. Maybe the team went through a rough patch – a really rough patch that saw them lose 10 games in the standings, but a rough patch nonetheless. Maybe the bats are finally waking up again as we enter hittin’ season, as Charlie Manuel liked to call it.
But if the bats go cold again, maybe a new voice is needed. And maybe hitting coach John Mallee will be the one to get the axe.
Featured Image: via Twitter (@NinjaLeee)
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