By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Even though he is six seasons removed since being the manager of the Philadephia Phillies, Charlie Manuel's presence can still be felt with the team, as he serves as senior advisory to general manager Matt Klentak. Manuel is still interacting with everyone in the organization, even Phillies senior quantitative analyst Alex Nakahara, who wore a team uniform Tuesday at camp.
Manuel joined Anthony Gargano on 97.5 The Fanatic Tuesday morning to discuss the latest happenings with the club, with spring training exhibition games getting underway last week. Among those discussed included new manager Gabe Kapler, 1B/LF Rhys Hoskins, 1B Carlos Santana, the club's infield, starting pitching and minor league talent, as well as Managing Partner John Middleton.
The 74-year-old former manager even compared top Phillies second base prospect Scott Kingery to the club's 2008 World Series-winning second baseman, saying he has "a little Chase Utley in him."
On Phillies manager Gabe Kapler:
"Gabe's got a good way about him. He's got a good demeanor about him [and] good communication skills. He's genuine, and he's excited about managing. … He's going to communicate with his players. He's going to be a teacher. He likes to walk around on the field, mingle with the players and things like that. I like that. From what I've seen so far, he's just been doing his job well."
On Phillies 1B/LF Rhys Hoskins:
"As long as Rhys keeps the same demeanor that he's got and goes about his business the same way he has through the minor leagues, he's going to be absolutely fine. Here's a guy, he stays even-keeled, he loves baseball [and] comes to the ballpark to play every day. He concentrates on getting good balls to hit [and] working the counts. [He's] not afraid to go and get two strikes on him. He's going to to strike out some. He has … but he's going to be a top-notch hitter in the major leagues if he just stays who he is. There's a lot of distractions in baseball, … listening to other people and things like that. He don't have to do that. He just has to do what he's always done. He's going to be fine [and] good."
On Top Offseason Acquisition, 1B Carlos Santana:
"I think the guy that's going to really make the big difference in our lineup is [Carlos] Santana. I think we got a power-hitting guy that's got power from both sides of the plate, which gives us good ways to balance our lineup.
Last year, if you noticed, [Giancarlo] Stanton, [Aaron] Judge, and all the big hitters hit in the number two hole. That's what the sabermetric system likes. Those guys perform big. You can hit Santana anywhere from second to fifth in your lineup. I say he's going to hit somewhere in that order each day really. I also think if he hits right there in the middle of the order, that's definitely going to put some balance on our team."
On Phillies infielders Maikel Franco, Cesar Hernandez, J.P. Crawford and No. 3 prospect Scott Kingery:
"I think our offense is going to be better. I think [Maikel] Franco can be better than he was last year … he has to be better.
I think that Cesar Hernandez is coming into his own.
J.P. Crawford has been doing pretty good. I think last year in the second half, he caught up to Triple-A baseball. The major leagues might be a little tough on him at the start, but I think he's going to work in. Our offense definitely has the chance to do better.
[Scott Kingery,] the kid that got three hits last night, [has] a little Chase Utley in him. He's got a bigger smile than Chase. He just comes to the ballpark, smiles and goes [to] play. [He's] absolutely enjoyable to watch."
On Starting Pitching:
"If you go back and look, and you remember when we had our winning teams there, it seemed like some of our pitchers … we had pitchers in the bullpen and our starter every now and then …. to really show up big. It's been three years now since we've had all these young pitchers. It's kind of time for those pitchers to step up some. One or two of those guys has to step up and become steady big league pitchers for us. That will improve our team. … We got pitchers. We got arms. We got talent, but our pitching needs to be a lot more consistent.
I look at Nola as our best starter right now.
[Zach] Eflin has talent. I look for him sometimes to put it together. He pitched a couple good games against Atlanta last year. He's got a four-seam fastball up in the high 90s. He throws a sinker that's like 90-93. He's got a slider, curveball, change-up. He's got to learn some of the [secondary pitches]. Once he does that, he's still 23-24 years old. He's got a chance to be a good starter.
[Ben] Lively is a bull dog on the mound.
[Jerad] Eickhoff can be good at times, and he needs to be more consistent.
[Vince Velasquez] has electric stuff. His fastball has movement … it kind of jumps at you. He's got a lot of talent, but we keep waiting on him to develop and get consistent. That's exactly what he needs. … He's been a starter all of his baseball career now, and his arm and talent fits being a starter. I think he just has to be more consistent, and sometimes a year makes a big difference."
On Minor League Talent, RHP Sixto Sanchez, LHP Cole Irvin and outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz:
"We do have some starters in the minor leagues that has as chance. [Sixto Sanchez] has a big-time chance. He can be a quick guy to get to the big leagues."
"We got [Cole] Irvin, a lefty. He's got a little Cliff Lee in him. He pitched in Reading last year. He has a 65 change up. It's a heck of a change up. He throws in the low, mid-90s with a run and sink. He's got a slider, cutter [and] has a chance to be a good pitcher."
"[Jhailyn's] doing good. He's got the chance to be a real good hitter. He has what I call a 'strong back side.' He stays behind the ball good and has quick hands. When he hits the ball, it looks like it doesn't want to come down. It looks like it keeps jumping … he's young. He's 19 right now, but at the same time, he's definitely ahead of like a high school kid coming out or maybe a first-year college player. He's already ahead of those guys because he's played the last couple years. He's got talent and has the chance to be a real good hitter."
On Phillies Managing Partner John Middleton:
"John Middleton is a changed guy. You see him more now. He's more visible. He comes around and talks to you more. His personality is definitely upbeat. He seems very excited about our team and the things that we're doing. He always emphasizes the fact that we want to win. I like that more than anything really."
