(SportsRadio 94 WIP) -- At 79-78, the Phillies have officially been eliminated from the postseason. They are now five games away from completing one of the more disappointing seasons in the franchise's recent memory.
"Incredibly disappointing," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler told Angelo Cataldi on Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show. "I don't think there's anyway to feel good about it. No one slept well last night and I see the physical and mental tolls on everyone.
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"I can absolutely understand the fans feeling upset and disappointed," Kapler admitted. "It was an exciting offseason with especially high expectations and we didn't meet them."
Kapler was asked what areas really hurt the Phillies this season.
"We definitely struggled with injuries," Kapler said. "We lost multiple starting outfielders for the season, seven of our eight relievers that were projected to be in our bullpen were lost for the more than a quarter of our season and five of those for 100 games plus. When any team gets hit hard in two specific areas it's always going to test depth. We struggled with our starting pitching, they didn't take the step forward we had looked to see and I think there are a lot of reasons that contributed to that. Offensively, we didn't do a good enough job as a team of consistently driving pitches than we needed to hit, frankly."
Cataldi asked Kapler how he's changed his approach as a manager from year one to year two.
"I think I've adjusted how I communicate with everyone," Kapler said. "I've adjusted how I spend my time before games, my understanding of the players and the culture in our clubhouse changes and evolves each day and with different personnel. I think one way that's worth noting is the management of the bullpen has evolved. Despite what we did last year in our pen, we pretty much had a set closer this year and for the most part, fairly defined set up roles as well. When we were full strength offensively, we had pretty much set lineups."
Does Kapler plan on returning for a third season as Phillies manager?
"That's all I can do," he said. "My job is to build the organization with a great group of a front office and field staff into a contender in 2020, that's what I'm focused on right now."