Fredi Gonzalez: Where Does He Rank Among NL East Managers?
By Adam Greene
Sep 22, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Pete Mackanin looks on prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
5. Pete Mackanin (Phillies): This isn’t entirely a fair estimation of Pete’s skills as a manager, as he was only recently entrusted with the managerial duties for the Philadelphia Phillies as recently as June. However, he has had a few years as a manager in the majors for the Pirates and the Reds; seasons where he filled in as interim manager once those teams fired their head coach.
So we can assume that Mackanin has been on the receiving end of bad teams. He’s compiled a managerial record of 90 – 104. Looking at that losing record, you would assume that he isn’t very good at his job. But again he has only filled in as head coach in seasons where the original skipper became unemployed, so for him to even have close to a .500 record is pretty remarkable. If you remember, coming out of the All-Star Break, the Phillies went on a pretty hot streak before finally cooling off.
The Phillies are not a very good team, and are still shedding a lot of their aging players. It will be interesting to see where he guides the team this year. We can only assume that the Phillies will be at least a little better this year than they were last year. Losing Hammels will hurt of course, but a good manager will right the ship and have the Phillies routinely doing what they love, giving the Braves fits.
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