Phillies: Five reasons to be excited about the stretch run
By Sean Resch
The manager
It is time to admit it, folks. Gabe Kapler is a good manager, and he might become a great one. He has a good front office behind him providing the talent and he seems to be a leader of men. We have reached a weird place where it feels like the criticisms are coming from people who do not watch the games, but get their Phillies information strictly from Twitter.
The shifts have been unconventional, but by all accounts they seem to be working. After pulling pitchers too early in the beginning of the season, Kapler learned and began to let them go later into games. The double-switches can be frustrating and head-scratching, and maybe those will prove to be a mistake over time. But, more often than not, whatever Gabe has done has worked. The clubhouse is much tighter than it has been in recent years, which is a testament to the culture that the first-year manager has fostered.
The guy is always positive, possibly to a fault. So much so that he is driving writers crazy. He would never throw a player under the bus in any circumstances. It seems genuine. Most of the time. I am beginning to believe that he does it on purpose when prodded for criticisms and flaws of the team, which kind of makes me like him even more. His skin is not too thin for Philadelphia.
We have a young manager leading a young team in the right direction. I think that I’m missing the problem here. Let’s embrace this guy, he could bring Philadelphia its next trophy.