Gabe Kapler’s first turn as a manager has devolved into something of an amateur hour show in Philadelphia, but the manager isn’t losing confidence in his club.
After being pounded by the Braves 15-2 Saturday, Kapler guaranteed that the Phillies would make the playoffs.
Gabe Kapler then said the Phillies will make the playoffs in 2018. Inside the clubhouse, there was a great deal of sympathy for Hoby Milner, being put in an unfair position by staff.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) April 1, 2018
Kapler has been hammered for his managerial style through three games. In the opener, he removed starter Aaron Nola with one out in the sixth despite him having thrown 68 pitches without allowing a run. He used six pitchers in all, and the bullpen blew a 5-0 lead in the 8-5 loss. The next day, he took out Nicholas Pivetta after four innings and ended up using nine pitchers because the game went 11 innings.
On Saturday, Kapler’s staff got rocked in the 15-2 loss. He turned to outfielder Pedro Floriman to pitch the last inning. But the worst part was Kapler’s handling of Hoby Milner. He brought the southpaw into the game despite not having any warmup pitches and then tried to stall, which led to the umpire docking warmup pitches.
The Phillies will not hold up well if Kapler continues to manage by making so many pitching changes. For him to make this guarantee takes a lot of cojones and coconut oil.
