By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
New Philadelphia Phillies manager Gabe Kapler didn't name any specific position players that he was excited to work with in his introductory press conference Thursday, instead choosing to say that he was looking forward to working with every player on the roster. But it's safe to assume that there's one player that the former major league outfielder is excited to try to get the most out – Odubel Herrera.
Following his introductory press conference, Kapler joined Chris Carlin and Ike Reese on SportsRadio 94 WIP, and raved about Herrera:
"I've watched a good deal of video on Odubel, and man, what a tremendous athlete. He has the ability to turn a game around in a heartbeat – [he's] incredibly athletic, and actually, from time-to-time takes really impressive angles to the ball to take away hits from some other guys. I've seen him take away some hits from guys that many other center fielders would not get to."
Though he occasionally has made some mental mistakes in center field, FanGraphs says that since 2015, he has been the fifth best fielding center fielder in the MLB. In 2017, which was his third season playing the position, Herrera finished in the top four in the league in UZR, UZR/150 and dWAR for center fielders, per FanGraphs.
Perhaps where Kapler and his staff will need to focus with Herrera is attempting to figure out how to get him to consistently keep a strong approach at the plate. Though he was an extremely productive hitter in the second-half of the season, when he's struggled, he's been really unproductive. For example, during the month of May 2017, he hit just .183 and struck out 30 times. He's obviously not going to hit .360, as he did in July of 2017, every month. But Kapler's staff will be tasked with getting him to hit .233 in a bad month, as opposed to .183.
One of the ways that he can keep from getting as cold during struggles is to increase the rate that he walks at. Herrera's walk-rate dropped from 9.6 percent in 2016 to 5.5 percent in 2017. To put things even more in perspective, Herrera walked 23 times in April of 2016, a month in which he hit .313. In 2017, he walked just 31 times the entire season. Kapler and his staff will no doubt make it a point of emphasis to get Herrera to work more walks in 2018.
Kapler would go on to say that he doesn't believe in treating all players the same after they make a mistake. Rather he believes in taking an appropriate approach with each individual person. He made clear to note, however, that no mistakes will go unchecked:
"Young players are going to make mistakes. And when they do, those are conversations that we have to have. And this is independent of Odubel and not specific to any particular player. But the one thing I can guarantee you – nothing will go unaddressed. Anything that happens on the baseball field we are going to talk about after the game and think about how we could have done it better. And when we have those conversations with players, they are going to be serious. There is going to be balance with some patience and understanding that a 25-year-old is not a guy that's been in the league for 10 years, and he still is developing at the major league level."
Kapler then followed with a point about how it's important to remember that player development doesn't simply end when a player reaches the major league level, something he was reminded of as Dodgers director of player development. He also noted that a person isn't even developed full as an individual, let alone a baseball player, when they reach the major league level.
The new Phillies skipper is set to work with one of the youngest teams in the sport in 2018. As it stands now, Freddy Galvis, who will turn 28 later this month, is the oldest potential starter as a position player on the roster. Cesar Hernandez, who is 27, is the second oldest. Come Opening Day, it's entirely possible that neither of them will still be with the Phillies. So for as much talent as Kapler has to work with, he will certainly have to deal with his share of growing pains.
