Phillies Make it Hittin Season, Bring Charlie Manuel Back in the Dugout
Some pretty eye opening news come from the Phillies clubhouse today.
Phillies make Charlie Manuel hitting coach for remainder of season and let John Mallee go. More changes to staff still being discussed
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) August 13, 2019
I, for one, am shocked. Not that Charlie Manuel is back. I just get into Eagles Training Camp mode and I forget that the Phillies exist. Then, something like this occurs and I’m like oh shit yeah, the Phillies were good at one point this year.
As much heat as Gabe Kapler has drawn recently (and really his entire tenure as manager) the man Phillies fans wanted to replace even more was hitting coach, John Mallee. Not only do they finally replace him, they do so with a beloved Philly sports figure and a proven baseball mind.
Before this move was just recently made, the buzz in the city has been about Carlos Santana’s walk-off home run last night. I don’t pretend to be an expert on the subject of launch angle and overall analytics but Crossing Broad had some interesting thoughts on the matter:
I do find it interesting that Carlos Santana has been more productive this season AND his average launch angle has dropped from 15.1 in 2018 to 10.8 this season. Meanwhile, his OPS has jumped from .766 to .925—that difference in contact doesn’t happen by accident.
— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) August 13, 2019
This overall elevation of hitting ability when a play is off the Phillies roster vs when they are currently on it is quite the disturbing pattern. J.T. Realmuto’s splits are down from last year. Carlos Santana’s are obviously up from last year. The list stretches far beyond that.
Bottom-line is, the Phillies offense will go off for 12 runs tonight, much like when the Eagles fired Chip Kelly and Demarco Murray’s first run (under center) afterwards was a 54 yard touchdown.