The Phillies are expected to clean house this week, sweeping aside manager Gabe Kapler and his largely inept coaching staff. The move aims to appease a fan base that might otherwise storm Citizens Bank Park with torches and pitchforks.
Come winter, owner John Middleton will whip out his wallet and wave it toward free agent pitchers. The Cigar King made it rain last off-season to the tune of $450 million – most of that going to Bryce Harper. There’s every reason to believe he’s still got money in the bank.
And that’s all fine. This stagnant franchise needs a new field manager – preferably one with experience, a feel for our city and a mind not melded to his computer screen. And no one is going to argue against the owner signing the likes of Gerrit Cole, Hyun-Jin Ryu or Zack Wheeler.
But all of that is merely a start. If Middleton really wants to extricate this stalled clunker from the mud, he needs to go further. He needs to fire GM Matt Klentak.
It’s Klentak, not Kapler, who is responsible for the Phillies failure to contend (or even clear .500) since his hiring in 2015. It’s Klentak who opened this season believing the Phils would be viable with a starting staff of Nola, Arrieta, Velasquez, Manny, Moe and Jack.
That rotation averaged a mere 5.4 innings per start, forcing Kapler on a Bataan Death March between the dugout and the mound as he watched his hurlers get torched for a franchise-record 255 home runs.
Gabe Kapler GETTY IMAGES
The sins of the GM go far beyond that. While the rest of the NL East bursts with young stars like Pete Alonso, Juan Soto, Ronald Acuna, Jr., and Ozzie Albies, the Phils couldn’t even find a set position for their top prospect. And who beyond Scott Kingery projects as a top-line player, let alone an all-star?
The farm system, under Klentak’s direction for four years, was ranked 23rd by Baseball America earlier this season. Its barrenness showed this summer as the Phils tried to patch rotation holes by calling up Cole Irvin and garbage-picking Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas. Those three combined for a 5.12 ERA and 1.41 WHIP.
The damage Klentak is doing here is long-term. His batting mantra of hit-a-homer-or-die-trying, was foisted on every hitter in the lineup, resulting in 1,443 whiffs and a .245 team batting average. Hey, three-run home runs are great, but sometimes a team needs to play small ball – hit-and-run, steal a base, or lay down a bunt.
These Phils were unable to do any of that. And I have to believe this one-size-fits-all nonsense is being taught down to the lowest level of the minors.
Likewise, every young pitcher was forced to adhere to a top-down quantitative strategy that just didn’t work for most. Consider how Zach Eflin saved his season only after he closed his ears to ham-handed pitching coach Chris Young and went back to what he knew worked for him.
Klentak somehow talked his way into a contract extension through 2022, so firing him now would be expensive and embarrassing for Middleton. (Side note: I’d love to see club president Andy “If we don’t, we don’t” McPhail get the heave-ho as well, but that’s another column).
Meanwhile, Middleton will probably aim high for his next manager, flirting with Joe Madden, Joe Girardi and Buck Showalter. But what makes him think any of them would want to report to Kid Klentak? Unless the new skipper is given genuine personnel input or given a status above Klentak, he’ll be managing at a disadvantage.
Phillies fans deserve better.
