Phillies Name Gabe Kapler New Manager

PHILADELPHIA, PA -- The Phillies long managerial search has come to an end. After a month of looking, they named Gabe Kapler, the 42-year-old Director of Player Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, their new skipper on Monday.

Kapler, a former outfielder who played as recently as 2010, is considered a revolutionary choice as manager. While he's never served as a big league manager before, he is known for his attention to analytics and nutrition, and has been touted as a potential managerial choice for years.

The decision was first reported by FanRag.com, who cited league sources. Rumors that Kapler was the Phillies pick began circulating social media on Sunday.

Kapler will take over for Pete Mackanin, who was let go near the end of the 2017 season late last month.

He beat out former Red Sox manager John Farrell and Triple-A Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs head coach Dusty Wathan for the position. The three were considered finalists for the position after two rounds of interviews.

In his position with the Dodgers, who presently trail the Houston Astros 3-2 in the World Series, Kapler became famous for converting the entire Dodgers minor league system to organic food. His high energy and dynamic approach to the game was exactly the kind of radical shift the Phillies were thought to be looking for when they decided to move on from Mackanin, who was widely respected and had guided the club through the darkest hours of its rebuilding stage.

He's a revolutionary choice not only for his age, but for his background. Unlike both Farrell and Wathan, Kapler has very minimal managing experience of any kind (just a season of A-ball in 2007), and his experience in the dugout and on the field comes mostly as a player. In choosing Kapler, Phillies general manager Matt Klentak chose to place more value on the distinctive aspects of Kapler's persona - the focus on sabermetrics and nutrition - than more typical manager qualities.

Kapler played 13 seasons in the major leagues, hitting for a .268 career average and winning a World Series with the Red Sox in 2004. After his retirement he briefly served as a sportscaster for Fox Sports 1 before joining the Dodgers organization. In 2016, he came in second to Dave Roberts as the choice to become the new manager of the Dodgers.

Kapler will become one of the youngest managers in the game, along with 39-year-old Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and 43-year-old AJ Hinch of the Astros.

Patch file photo