Who is Bryan Price?

He's the guy rumored to be the next pitching coach of the Phillies. He's got a pretty solid resume.

Price spent 5 years as pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners from 2001 to 2006. In 2001, the Mariners pitching staff recorded an AL-best ERA of 3.54, which earned him USA Today Baseball Weekly's Coach of the Year Award. That team won 116 games and included some names Phillies fans might remember, like Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer, and Joel Piniero.

He coached the Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers in 2007 and 2008 and part of 2009. Baseball America named him Major League Coach of the Year in 2007 when his pitchers posted the fourth-best ERA in the National League. His staff featured Livan Hernandez, Brandon Webb, and 206-year-old Randy Johnson.

He was pitching coach for the Reds from 2010 to 2013. The 2010 and 2012 teams won the NL Central behind starters Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto. He managed the Reds from 2014 through April 2018.

Price had a lot of success without having marquee pitchers, something that could bode well for the Phillies. It would be nice to see a pitching coach craft something out of nothing.

I 😍 Girardi

As first impressions go, Joe Girardi's introductory press conference was Hall of Fame material. He said all the right things, dropped the right names, and set the right tone. I am absolutely convinced the Phillies hired the right man for the job.

Here are some of the highlights:
- “We need to do whatever it takes to win. We have to trust, love, respect and be accountable to each other. There’s a ton of people counting on us. Your teammates. There’s a little boy & a little girl coming to the ball park, excited to see us. Let’s get it done.”
- “I’m well aware of the passion for the great game of baseball here. I’ve lived it as a player and as a manager. I know the importance of winning here. I had a chance to compete against a great team with Charlie Manuel here in 2009, and it was a great place to come watch a game. The passionate fans of the Phillies were great — they were not easy to play against — and I want it to be that way for many years to come.”
- “Numbers tell a story over time. I am an analytical guy who has an engineering degree. I love math and they can never give me too much information. It's a tool we can use to evaluate players in so many different ways. In reality, our job is to bring the best out in players, and whatever tool we have to help us I want it.”
Girardi signed a 3-year contract with an option for a fourth year. He was with the Yankees for 10. Unless something goes horribly wrong, I think Girardi will be here for as long as he wants. 
His longtime pitching coach from the Bronx, Larry Rothschild, was canned by the Yankees today. Might that set up a reunion? Stay tuned. 

Happy Girardi Day

Happy Girardi Day!

New Phillies manager Joe Girardi meets the Philadelphia media today at 1. He'll outline the reasons why he wanted the job and what his plans are for 2020 and beyond. We'll update once he starts talking.

Decision Due

Now that the World Series is set, the Phillies should be ready to announce their next manager. Major League Baseball frowns on major announcements during the World Series, so a hiring could be announced Monday, before Game 1, or Thursday, a travel day.

Buck Showalter has interviewed twice with the team. Dusty Baker was at CBP late last week. Joe Girardi met with team officials last Monday in New York. So who's it gonna be?

I have a feeling Girardi is their first choice. He's won a World Series (against the Phils in 2009) and is the youngest of the three. The fact that the Phils are reported to be close to hiring top Yankees scout Brian Barber as amateur scouting director could provide Girardi with a level of comfort since they worked together in New York.

Girardi was a catcher for 15 seasons with the Cubs, Yankees, Rockies, and Cardinals. He managed the Marlins for 1 season before leading the Yankees for 10 years. His teams have a .544 winning percentage and the Yankees never won fewer than 84 games with him in charge.

But as been proven many times before in this blog, what the hell do I know?

The Usual Suspects

It looks like interviews are about to begin for the vacant Phillies managing job. According to published reports, former Yankees, Orioles, Rangers, and Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter is due in town this week. Also reported to be coming in are former Marlins and Yankees manager Joe Girardi as well as Dusty Baker, who managed the Cubs, Giants, Reds, and Nationals.

Let's look at their records.
Showalter - age 63, 20 seasons, .506 winning percentage, 3 first place finishes, .391 winning percentage in the post-season, and 3-time AL Manager of the Year.
Girardi - turns 55 tomorrow, 11 seasons, .554 winning percentage, 3 first place finishes, 1 World Series title (against the Phils in 2009), .538 winning percentage in the playoffs, 1 NL Manager of the year.
Baker - age 70, 22 seasons, .532 winning percentage, 7 first place finishes, 1 NL pennant, .418 playoff winning percentage, 3 time NL manager of the year.

I'm not a Baker fan. He has a reputation of ruining starting pitchers, hasn't really had success in the playoffs, and is 70 years old. I like Girardi, but he played for the Cubs and grew up in Illinois and is probably angling for that job. Showalter's postseason record is even worse than Baker's.

Also reported to be interested in the job are former Phillies Curt Schilling and Lenny Dykstra. Hard pass on both of those idiots.

But if the Phillies are going to look inside the organization, keep an eye on third base coach Dusty Wathan, who was a minor league manager for the team for years. Another intriguing possibility is Shawn Williams. Who? He's the son of former big league manger Jimy Williams and has managed in the Phillies system for the last 5 years at Lakewood, Clearwater, and Reading. His teams are 51 games over .500. But he won't get an offer because he's never managed in the majors and he's only 36.

Let's hope the Phils conduct interviews and make a decision in less time than it took to fire Gabe Kapler. There are 8 other teams looking for new managers. They're going to have to strike early and overpay to get the guy they want.

Harper’s Input

Whoever become the next Phillies manager will almost certainly have to be approved by right fielder Bryce Harper. After all, he’s going to be here for 12 more years. And owner John Middleton is going to want to make sure his $330 million investment stays happy. 

I don’t know if he’ll be sitting in on the interviews, but his opinion certainly matters. The new manager will be just as much his pick at it is Klentak’s and Middleton’s. 

Punch List

Other than leading the team to an extended playoff run, the next Phillies manager has a lot to do. Off the top of my head:

1. Find a pitching coach who will get the most out of the arms on the roster. And if those arms include Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, and Zach Eflin, it means making them as good as the front office thinks they can be.

2. Fix Rhys Hoskins. The young slugger was absolutely lost at the plate in the season's second half. He hit .180 with a .679 OPS and struck out 79 times in 315 plate appearances. If the Phillies are going to be successful, Hoskins needs to be a major contributor.

2A. Find a hitting coach who can help Hoskins and everyone else avoid extended slumps.

3. Don't sugarcoat poor performance. The new manager needs to tell it like it is. One of the most infuriating things about Gabe Kapler was his relentless positivity. Had Kapler been on the Titanic, he would have be thrilled with the quality of the lifeboats. I'm not saying the new manager needs to call players out in public on a daily basis, but a firm grip on reality would be helpful.

4. Find that happy medium between analytics and "feel" for the game. You can't run a team full of humans by relying on numbers and discounting the human element.

All Roads Lead to Klentak

In the end, it’s about winning games. And Gabe Kapler didn’t win enough of them. Especially during the last 2 Septembers, when the Phillies collapsed and disappeared from playoff contention. And that’s why, 11 excruciating days after the season’s end, team owner John Middleton finally pulled the plug. 

There were other factors as well. It was Kapler who pushed for the elevation of assistant Chris Young to pitching coach. And the pitchers regressed. It was Kapler who lifted ace Aaron Nola after just 5.1 innings and 68 pitches on Opening Day 2018, to the shock of everyone. The bullpen ended up blowing the game. It was Kapler who called for a reliever who hadn’t warmed up. And it was Kapler who told the media he benched guys for not hustling, but told those same players they were just getting a day off. 

So who is the next manager? Joe Maddon? Joe Girardi? Dusty Wathan? Buck Showalter?  Maybe a long shot like Braves coach Ron Washington?

Kapler gets the blame for the collapses of the last 2 years. But at some point, general manager Matt Klentak is going to have to answer for his hiring decisions. If the Phils don’t make the playoffs in 2020, Klentak better update his resume. 

Wrong Coach Stayed, Still Fired

Pitching coach Chris Young, the guy the Phillies were so enamored about that they let Rick Kranitz go, has been relieved of his duties, according to published reports. Kranitz, meanwhile, is busy this October coaching the Braves pitching staff in the playoffs.

There were reports that Young was more interested in analytics than working with pitchers, and you know, and helping them get better. Several pitchers regressed this season, most notably Nick Pivetta, who has probably and hopefully pitched his last game as a Phillie.

Young's departure is a huge indictment of general manager Matt Klentak, who wanted to keep Young rather than lose him to another team. So he let Kranitz go.

Meanwhile, the fate of manager Gabe Kapler remains unknown. The Phils haven't announced if he'll be fired, be back next season, or kicked upstairs in some sort of consulting gig. Just make up your minds already. There have been a ton of managers fired already - the Cubs, Mets, Pirates, Angels, and Padres will all be looking for new skippers. And the Royals and Giants will be looking to replace managers who retired.

If the Phils are going to fire Kapler, they better do it soon so they're not stuck with the dregs of the managerial pool. Kapler had zero big league managing experience and I really hope they go for an experienced leader this time around. I'd love to see Joe Maddon, late of the Cubs, come home to PA and lead the Phils. But chances are he'll go to the Angels, given that he worked for that team for more than 30 years.