The Phillies are hitting .228 as a team through 65 games, which is the fourth-worst mark in all of baseball. Their .690 OPS ranks 25th out of 30 teams and is 24 points below the National League average. Several of the lineup’s young hitters have struggled to meet expectations or replicate the burst of success they experienced late last season. They are not generating enough offense to give themselves a realistic chance to survive what has been thus far a miserable month, and Gabe Kapler acknowledged as much after his team’s offense was mostly silenced over seven innings by Rockies starter Tyler Anderson in a listless 7-2 defeat last night:
There’s no disputing that our offense is not clicking. It’s very clear that we’re not getting a lot of hits. It’s very clear that we’re not scoring a lot of runs. It’s very clear that earlier in the season we were working deeper counts. We were just having better all-around at-bats. I don’t know if me getting frustrated will be helpful for our hitters. I’m not going to display frustration to them.
Nor should he. The recent chatter on sports talk radio from hosts and callers centers around a shared frustration about Kapler’s overly optimistic post game press conferences that routinely feature him pissing positive all over a group of savvy baseball writers and sports media that know better:
“I’m out. Today I am out. I am done. I can’t take that mentality anymore. I am sick of hearing from him.” – @HARRYMAYES975 on Gabe Kapler. Kapler said after the game yesterday that he won’t express frustration…
— Mayes and Myrtetus Middays (@975Middays) June 14, 2018
I totally get this sentiment. Check my Twitter feed during games. I want to fight my television screen on a nightly basis. There’s at least even odds I’m going to put my fist through it in the next two weeks because the Phillies blow right now, and what’s more, they an absolutely brutal product to watch. They are 3-8 in June, have one everyday player hitting over .260 in Odubel Herrera, a player who also happens to be mired in a hideous three-week slump that has precipitated a nearly 80-point plummet from what was not so long ago his sterling batting average. As a team, this offense has only cracked five runs more than once this month, and there are growing concerns that there is no end to these struggles in sight. With that said, what’s Kapler supposed to do?
Will screaming at Scott Kingery raise his .597 OPS? Will expressing public disappointment with Aaron Altherr alter his .183 batting average? Will going on a tirade in the middle of the clubhouse like Lou Brown did in Major League II make Odubel Herrera stop striking out in 31% of his at bats the way he has since May 20?
Of course it won’t. And here’s the thing, the “They need someone to kick these guys in the ass” mentality should be reserved for teams that dog it. For teams filled with selfish and lazy players. For teams that are going through the motions. That’s not this team. Now, the offensive may not be this bad, but it’s clearly flawed and a positive uptick isn’t going to be ignited by the manager lighting up, publicly or privately, a group of young players who must already feel immense pressure to perform and prove they belong at this level. I can’t say I agree with what most of Kapler does, but I’m with him on this one. If you happen to think this lineup is just a swift kick in the ass or public bashing from turning the corner, I’ve got news for you, they are going to need a lot more than that, and Kapler knows it.
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11 Comments
Harry Mayes is a tool and always has been. He looks like a dude that regularly goes to strip clubs and thinks he’s a ladies man.
Harry is always talking about someone named Lima.
Kapler would be better received here if Chip Kelly was never a thing.
Took 1 month to collapse last year. Took 2 months this year. I guess that is progress. Need a teaching coach though with all these young guys. Not this rah rah, sabre nerd. You don’t bunt with the pitcher with no outs and a man on first, you are a fucking moron.
Thanks for mentioning that the eagles will be getting their super bowl rings today.
great coverage!
Everyone is waiting to see what the rings look like. Knowing that Jeff is going to kick in extra money the rings will be spectacular. One of my favorite rings is the Broncos 2015 ring for Super Bowl 50. It’s got the 50 in Gold surrounded by the three trophies. The 2000 Ravens ring is also pretty classy.
Dork
You’re obviously a fan of those loser sixers and flyers franchises.
Thanks for being a loser for over 25 years.
Should I or anyone else expect a complete about-face and instantly better performance from these players if Kapler goes ape**** ? No. But it doesn’t need to have a direct result in performance to justify it. Plain and simple, a critical reaction from the manager or any coach on this team expresses to everyone that they’re not robots. They’ll come across as genuine and human and relatable, as caring about what the hell happens on the field! Right now, Kapler seems to care more about each individual’s players psyche than winning or losing. You have to be able to do both. This was one of my biggest misgivings about him as a manager.; that he’ll want to be everyone’s best friend. I determined almost instantly that he’ll never get thrown out of a game. He spends so much time at his post-game pressers giving high praise to individual player’s inconsequential accomplishments than to the GIANT elephant in the room. They keep sliding back to a below-average team with no urgency to stop it from happening. Will a critical reaction reverse Herrera’s average from falling off a cliff in less than three weeks’ time? Not, but maybe pointing out publicly that giving up on so many pitches before they even leave a pitcher’s hand is NOT going to help get your batting average back up. For all of Herrera’s talents, his weaknesses are just as monumental. Maybe reporters NEED to ask him directly if he’s talked to Herrera about that. Maybe Kapler should point that out in his post-game speeches. Maybe mention that we should look at our shift strategies again so that we won’t have our shortstop so far in the whole when a pitcher is out there throwing over 97 mph, knowing a batter has no freakin’ chance to PULL the ball! (base hit up the middle) If Kapler won’t be the one to show frustration, somebody on that team needs to, player or non-player.
Kapler is coddling these player. No wonder they don’t give a shit about improving.
I may be in the minority, but I like Kapler and I like what he is doing. I could give two shits what Harry Mayes thinks….please, who listens to 97.5 anyway? If you wanted a robot, then you should have kept the last coach – I already forgot his name! Gabe was a former player and will get the job done. Players know they aren’t hitting, you don’t need a guy kicking the Gatorade every time someone strikes out. He seems to me to be the type of guy who will call a guy in his office and not air it out to the media. I like that in a coach….kinda like Dougie P, who by the way, Mayes and all of his cohorts ripped a million times since he was hired and all he did was go out a win a freakin superbowl.