By Jack Ryan
If Phillies’ manager Ryne Sanberg has his way, the dreadful Phillies will be better than 73-89 in 2015 because he has vowed to communicate better with his players.
Has it occurred to Ryno that talking to bad players more is not going to make them play better?
Just askin’!
Sandberg made some headlines when he benched Jimmy Rollins during spring training in 2014 and then benched Ryan Howard during the season. Neither move sat well with some players. There were others that said communication between the manager and players in the clubhouse was lacking.
Well, Sandberg is well aware of the criticisms he faced last season and is determined to make changes in 2015.
“We have to talk to a lot of players,” Sandberg said. “I plan on talking to the veteran players. I plan on talking to them as a group. I plan on talking to the younger players. Really having better overall communication throughout the whole team, with myself and the coaching staff with the players.
“I think that was lacking. Sometimes it’s easy to take it for granted. Say you have a veteran club, and they know everything and they’ll handle the clubhouse and everything will be fine. I learned that’s not the case.
“I look at last year, there was a lot to be gained from that, a lot of experience. A lot of different things that came up, handling different types of players. … The coaching and the leadership never stops. Coaching the players at the major-league level, veteran players, all the way down to the young players.”
