Why SF Giants manager Gabe Kapler told the story of ‘the worst I’ve ever been in my career’
SAN FRANCISCO — Wednesday afternoon, Giants manager Gabe Kapler found himself thinking about the worst moment of his playing career.
He was empathizing with Giants rookie Blake Sabol, who, despite hitting a walk-off home run in the Giants’ 5-4 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday night, has been the worst player in baseball at making contact this season.
The growing pains were to be expected with Sabol, a Rule 5 pick who had just 25 games above the Double-A level before the season. Still, he’s struggled enough that Kapler has needed to remind Sabol – and himself – just how hard it is to be a rookie.
It was back in 2005 that Kapler was a rookie in the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization in Japan.
At 29 years old, Kapler had plenty of professional experience, but none in Japan. He had just come off a season in which he won a World Series with the ‘04 Red Sox, the first team in baseball history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit in the postseason. He hit .272 with a .700 OPS for the Sox, who made him a contract offer to return the next season.
But Kapler was more intrigued by a contract offer from the Yomiuri Giants, so he moved to Japan to experience life as a rookie in a new league.
“I wanted the experience,” he said. “I thought maybe I could parlay that into an everyday job in the major leagues. I thought, ‘I’ll go play center field every day, then I’ll come back to the United States and play well.’”
But when Kapler started playing, “I got my (butt) absolutely kicked. It was the worst I’ve ever been in my career.”
Despite playing in a Japanese league that’s widely considered to be a step down from Major League Baseball, Kapler had gone from being a World Series champion to being the worst player on the Yomiuri Giants. He hit just .153 with a .478 OPS in 120 plate appearances over 38 games before he had enough and returned to the Red Sox mid-summer.
Despite looking terrible while in Japan, he returned to the big leagues and was again a useful player. He played five more years in the majors, hitting a respectable .256 with a .729 OPS before he retired following his release from the Dodgers in 2011.
Nowadays, Kapler remembers his painful 38-game stint in Japan whenever he sees a rookie struggling.
“Those are the times you just think, ‘OK, that’s it. How do you recover from this?’” he said. “It’s just having people around you to share that perspective, like, ‘OK, I can tell the story. I played six more major league years. I had some good years and bad years there, but it’s not the end. It’s just something players experience.’”
Sabol entered Wednesday with a strikeout rate of 44%, substantially higher than any other player in the majors with at least 50 plate appearances. The next-closest is Brandon Belt, who has struck out 39% of the time with the Blue Jays.
“He’s struck out at the minor league level and I would expect there are going to be some strikeouts here too,” Kapler said.
Worse, Sabol has drawn just one walk in 52 plate appearances.
But he’s also hit four home runs. As a catcher, he’s shown the ability to lead a pitching staff, receive effectively, block effectively and control the running game. The Giants will take the good with the bad.
When he does make contact, Sabol’s average exit velocity of 93 mph ranks in the top-10% of big league hitters.
“We’ll work with Blake as much as we can to help him make as much contact as possible,” Kapler said. “And he’s going to hit home runs. He’s a big strong guy with some loft to his swing.”
His walk-off home run on Tuesday night was hit 108 mph off the bat.
“We’ve seen Blake have some out of control moments in the batter’s box, so it was encouraging to see that calmness,” Kapler said. “That’s the thing that’s going to help him make more contact, too. Some experience and some relaxation.
Additional notes:
— Kapler announced his starting rotation for the Giants’ two games against the Padres in Mexico City. Sean Manaea will start Saturday’s game while Alex Cobb will start on Sunday. The Padres have yet to release their probables as of Wednesday evening.
— Outfielder Mitch Haniger, who missed the first few weeks with an oblique strain and a back strain, made his season debut on Monday, sat the bench on Tuesday and was back in the lineup on Wednesday. He’ll likely sit again Thursday as the team looks to take a conservative approach with him for the time being. “Once we get to Mexico City, we’ll be in a position where he can roll out there on a regular basis,” Kapler said.
— Mike Yastrzemski was originally in Wednesday’s lineup playing right field, but he was a late scratch with a tight left side. LaMonte Wade Jr. replaced him.