Phillies GM Matt Klentak on manager Gabe Kapler: ‘I’m not going to sit up here and criticize him’

Gabe Kapler will spend the beginning of October reviewing the results of the anonymous surveys he distributed to his coaching staff, and then he will meet with members of the front office. The manager wants feedback on his first year with the Phillies.

So what feedback will general manager Matt Klentak have for him?

"On the positive side, I think I would tell Kap that — and I have told him this — I think it is incredible to me how thoughtful he is, how well he communicates, and how adjustable he is," Klentak said Monday at his end-of-season press conference. "I have seen it so many ways. The way Kap thought of something in spring training or in April or in May and over the course of the season based on whatever feedback he has received, he's made adjustments. He does so without ego, and he does so because it's the right thing for the franchise."

Klentak and Kapler talk so often that Klentak said it is "an understatement" that the two speak everyday. It was clear all season that the two were closely aligned. And Kapler can almost be considered as an extension of the front office, at least more so than any other manager in the team's recent history. So Klentak's feedback was certainly going to be tilted positive.

"I'm not going to sit up here and criticize him," Klentak said. "But I do think that part of what Kap learned this year is that perception matters. Through some unfortunate or very high-profile early-season incidents, he started off in a bit of a hole and did an excellent job of recovering from that for four months. Now at the end, as the team has struggled, I certainly recognize that the spotlight is back on him.

"I'm not at all worried about Kap's work ethic or his willingness to adjust and lead this group going forward. It's not reasonable, and it wasn't reasonable a year ago, to think that a first-year manager in Philadelphia, period, but a first-year manager at any level. would be flawless at the start. That's just not reality, guys. It's not."