The Braves on Saturday keel-hauled the Phillies in Atlanta by a score of 15-2 (box score). This pretty much sums up the afternoon for Philly ...
Yep, Pedro Florimon was the final "pitcher" of the day the Phillies. Speaking of rookie manager Gabe Kapler, you'll recall that he made multiple strange decisions in his team's Opening Day come-from-ahead loss to those same Braves. There's also this ...
Timely off day, that one. Anyhow, Saturday's loss occasioned another gaffe on the part of Mr. Kapler. In the third inning, Kapler went to the mound to remove starter Vince Velasquez but was forced to stall to the point of absurdity because no reliever was warmed up and ready. Hoby Milner, the unlucky moundsman who was finally called upon, had to hustle to get ready while pretty much everyone around him was trying to figure out what was going on ...
Understandably, Braves manager Brian Snitker across the way was none too pleased with what he saw. Please enjoy the climax of the fiasco in question ...
Needless to say, Kapler was asked about this mix-up. He responded thus ...
He takes accountability for the mistake, which is good. And then -- the lede has been buried -- he guarantees that the Phillies will make the playoffs this year. Such boldness may be unwise given recent events, but it's certainly interesting.
To be sure, the Phillies have a strong base of young talent in place, and the front office supplemented nicely by adding Jake Arrieta, Carlos Santana, Pat Neshek, and Tommy Hunter. Will that plus Kapler's data-driven approach to management be enough? Not long after the Phils inked Arrieta, the SportsLine (@SportsLine on Twitter) Projection Model tabbed the Phillies for 75 wins and an 8.2 percent chance of making the playoffs. In other words, Kapler seems to think much more of his team's chances than this particular set of numbers does.
As for his screw-up on Saturday, perhaps he'll be hearing from someone in a suit ...
Developing. Developing on several fronts, possibly.