Will the Philadelphia Phillies hold Spring training at Camp Strange?
Philadelphia Phillies pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater on Valentine’s Day, and somewhat painfully, sports talk radio in the Delaware Valley pivoted from the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl win to baseball. A question immediately arose. How long will it take for the Fightin’ Phils’ camp to be dubbed Camp Strange?
The generally funny crew on the early morning shift at WIP in Philly noted several “interesting” first steps by new manager Gabe Kapler. Two, in particular, caught my ear. First, apparently, Kapler has in mind putting a dent in alarm clock manufacturers’ profits. The Phillies are being told they can show up to work this spring whenever their bodies decide to wake up and get to work. Second, Kapler is apparently assigning each player a fair amount of homework. All those in red pinstripes, as per WIP’s radio pundits, will have to log all their throws and all their swings when batting.
Say what?
Well, let’s take the first point. Perhaps the radio crew had some of this a bit wrong. A Jim Salisbury NBC Philly report on the coming, leisurely Phillies mornings didn’t quite say what appears above. However, players will apparently hit the field at 11 a.m. this spring, about an hour and a half later than in past practice. Everybody Feb. 14 had a hearty laugh on the radio about Maikel Franco showing up about lunchtime each day, but Kapler apparently truly does have in mind keeping his squad appropriately rested. (Yes, by all means – they just started, but let’s take a break.)
Second, NBC also reports that documentation thing a bit differently as well. Players will be encouraged to “monitor” their activities and communicate results to Kapler’s staff. It remains to be seen who will actually do all the documenting. Apparently.
Does Anyone See Philip Seymour Hoffman as Art Howe in Moneyball Here?
Three other keywords seem to be on Kapler’s mind. They are in no particular order: analytics, food, and massages.
We all know the Phillies adopted analytics late in the day. It seems about four minutes ago that upper management finally became convinced that computer data might be useful to baseball’s skippers, but now they’re all on board.
Food: the matter of proper nutrition is a Big Idea for Kapler. Both NBC and WIP reported Kapler’s remarks applauding the food staff already in place with the Phillies. WIP played audio of his statement highlighting “nutritionally dense food.” I see a wrap here just packed with bean sprouts and lean chicken, no Ranch dressing, of course.
For the matter of messages, we must circle back to that activity documentation and rest. Kapler says:
"“So, by way of example, if a player comes in and we know he had some extra activity the day before, maybe we don’t have anything specific planned for him the following day, then don’t come to the ballpark today. Stay home. Recover. Get a massage. Relax. Sleep. And then come back the next day and we’ll pick things back up.”"
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Somewhere Roy Halladay and Chase Utley are rolling their eyes. Let’s face it: for some players, showing up at the ballpark when it’s still dark out might just work. Indeed, Kapler has explicitly said that.
"“All of our players are individuals, and will be treated as such.”"
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He allows that showing up at the ballpark very, very early may work for some. Presumably, the clubhouse door will be open. What’s clear, though, is that Dorothy Gale, Aaron Altherr, and Vince Velasquez are not in Kansas anymore.
Regimentation will be replaced by something that might be called adult encouragement. For example, Velasquez is reported to be champing at the bit after a winter’s worth of text messages from his new manager about his value to the team. He has reported to camp with ten new pounds of muscle added to his already impressive physique. One can only hope that his harder work and right nutrition will somehow prevent a recurrence of the blood clot in the middle finger of his right (throwing) hand that shut him down early in 2017. (If not, will the next stop be a blood thinner?)
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Will all this work? It remains to be seen, but right now there is no apparent problem with Kapler’s approach. Hey, some of these guys are already millionaires. Maybe it’s time to treat them like adults.