It’s about 6 weeks too late, but the Phils finally canned hitting coach John Mallee and replaced him with Charlie Manuel, manager of the 2008 World F’ing Champions and the man credited with making Jim Thome a Hall of Famer.
I love, love, LOVE this move. The Phillies offense has been awful this season and the hope is Charlie and his “hittin’ season” philosophy can turn things around. Mallee is new school and analytics driven. Charlie is as old school as they come. Maybe he’ll be a calming influence and get several guys to get hot at the same time.
I’m going to the game tonight and I’d love to see Charlie deliver the lineup before the game. And this move makes Gabe Kapler’s position in the hot seat even hotter. Charlie is beloved in Philadelphia. Gabe, not so much. If the team goes on a roll, Charlie will get all the credit. And if they don’t, it’ll be because they waited too long and the hitters took to long to adjust to the change. Charlie has everything to gain while Kapler has everything to lose.
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