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Phillies Top Five Worst Managerial Decisions in Recent History

The Philadelphia Phillies have had more than a few terrible managerial decisions of the past years, but what ranks as the worst?

Author:
Ben Silver
May 5, 2022 3:00 PM EDT

When your team holds the second longest playoff drought in MLB, they're bound to have no lack of heartbreaking losses and terrible managerial decisions. Neither of these are in short supply for Philadelphia Phillies since their playoff drought began in 2012.

On Wednesday night, Phillies manager Joe Girardi pulled his ace, Zack Wheeler, from a 0-0 ballgame with 78 pitches and no runners on base. The Phillies lost the game in agonizing fashion in the 10th inning.

Since the Phillies had to use their closer Corey Knebel in the ninth inning instead of Wheeler, they were forced to go Brad Hand in the 10th, sparking the loss.

But just how bad was Girardi on Wednesday night, and where does it rank among other poor decisions of the last several years?

Number 5:

The Phillies were cruising with a 6-4 lead over the San Francisco Giants in the eighth inning of an April ballgame in 2021. With just six outs remaining, Girardi called upon his young setup man Connor Brogdon to face the middle of the Giants order.

It was evident that Brogdon didn't have command of his pitches that night. After a first pitch fly-ball out from Mike Yastrzemski, he allowed a double, followed by a walk, then a three-run home run to give the Giants the lead.

Oddly enough, that wasn't enough evidence for Girardi to lift his pitcher from the game, and Brogdon was left to flounder. He allowed back-to-back singles before Wilmer Flores crushed another three-run home run, putting the game out of reach.

Brogdon had thrown 30 pitches and was obviously gassed after allowing one home run, but he was allowed to stay in and face four more batters before he was lifted for Ramón Rosso.

Number 4:

The 2011 Phillies clinched the NL East with 12 games left to play and nabbed the number one seed in the National League just days later. For the last week and a half of the season, they had nothing to play for. But manager Charlie Manuel thought otherwise.

Facing the Wild Card-leading Atlanta Braves in the last series of the season, Manuel started his best lineup for three straight games, sweeping the ice-cold Braves. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals went into Houston and won two out of three from the Astros, taking the NL Wild Card from the Braves, then beating the Phillies in five games in the NLDS.

Number 3:

It's a Phillies scary story that will be told beneath bedsheets and around campfires for generations, "Remember the night Gabe Kapler pulled Aaron Nola with only 68 pitches?"

In what would become the best season of his career, Nola was dominant on Opening Day 2018 in Atlanta. But rookie manager Kapler had a plan, and Nola pitching to Freddie Freeman for a third time wasn't part of that plan, so he called for a lefty from the bullpen.

Hoby Milner came in and promptly allowed a two-run home run to Freeman, jumpstarting the Braves comeback and Kapler's train out of Philadelphia just two years later.

Number 2:

While it's fresh in everyone's minds, let's compare Girardi lifting Wheeler with 78 pitches to Kapler lifting Nola was 68.

It was Opening Day 2018 when Kapler took Nola out for Milner. He likely went into that game knowing Nola had a strict pitch limit. He did not want Freeman getting a third look at Nola, and with a five-run lead, the idea seemed like it couldn't backfire.

When Girardi lifted Wheeler on Tuesday night, the Phillies were deadlocked, 0-0, with the Texas Rangers. Wheeler had thrown 90 pitches in his last start and 84 pitches before that one. He was no longer on a pitch limit and was cruising through the eighth inning. Barring poor defense in the seventh, Wheeler hadn't allowed a hit in his last eight batters faced.

When Kapler lifted Nola it was understandable, if not ill-advised. But there was seemingly no intelligent thought put into lifting Wheeler with 78 pitches.

Number 1:

Gabe Kapler's entire first week as a manager could fit on this list. But the use of his bullpen in those first games was so spectacularly bad, it beggared belief.

In just the third game of the season, Kapler's Phillies were losing 5-2 in the third inning. With starter Vince Velasquez struggling, the manager went to his bullpen and "nasty" reliever Hoby Milner.

Except Milner hadn't been informed he was needed out of the 'pen, he hadn't even started warming up. The umpires were so concerned for Milner's health in the bizarre situation that they gave extra time for him to get ready.

No one had ever seen anything like it, a manager so out of touch with his bullpen. The next day, MLB sent Kapler a formal warning, and agreed with umpire Jerry Layne's decision to let Milner warm-up.

Naturally, just three years after this event, Kapler went on to win NL Manager of the Year in his second season with the San Francisco Giants.