Phillies Gabe Kapler wants Nick Pivetta to know he’s been in his shoes

DENVER — Gabe Kapler was 27 years old and in the final year of a three-year deal when then-Rockies manager Clint Hurdle summoned Kapler to his Coors Field office.

Kapler, then a Rockies outfielder, was struggling in June of 2003 and the team was ready to inform him that he was headed to triple A. Kapler was batting .224 in his first 67 at-bats. That, he thought, was not a big enough chance. And Kapler was fuming as he walked to Hurdle’s office.

“Gabe, stay calm,” Jamie Quirk, then the Rockies bench coach, said to Kapler before he entered the office. “Don’t say anything that’s going to make this a whole lot worse.”

Those feelings returned Thursday afternoon when Kapler returned to Coors Field just a day after he was the manager who had to call a struggling player into his office and inform him that he was going to triple A after a small sample of games.

Before Thursday’s series opener, Kapler called Nick Pivetta, who the Phillies demoted Wednesday morning after three rough starts, and had a long chat. The two spoke on Wednesday, but Pivetta — just how Kapler once felt — was too upset to have a meaningful conversation.

“I really knew how Nick Pivetta felt,” Kapler said. “I could relate to that. I was able to be more empathetic to his position because of what happened here. Today, he was very much open and focused and able to have a back-and-forth and be coherent. It was valuable for me and it was valuable for him.”

Kapler would play just 12 games with Colorado’s triple-A affiliate before he was released as his struggles continued. He signed a minor-league deal five days later with the Red Sox. Kapler finished the season in the majors. A year later, he was in right field when the Red Sox won their first world title in 86 years. The anger he felt 16 months earlier when he walked into the manager’s office were a bit easier to live with. And he wanted to tell Pivetta he know how he felt.

“He knows that he’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish here,” Kapler said. “And as long as he does his job, this is temporary.”

Jean Segura, who missed his second-straight game Thursday, could be out of the lineup with a hamstring strain for “the next two or three days,” Gabe Kapler said. Segura sprinted in the outfield in the afternoon to test his hamstring, which has improved since he injured it on Tuesday night.

The Phillies will fill Segura’s void at shortstop with Scott Kingery, who also could see time in centerfield during the seven-game road trip.

“We’re bullish that Scott can play a pretty good centerfield,” Kapler said.

Vince Velasquez will start Friday against righthander German Marquez. The game will be televised on Facebook, but it will also be aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia as the league did away with Facebook-exclusive broadcasts after last year...The Phillies will miss Jacob deGrom next week in New York as the Mets ace had his start pushed back this week due to strep throat.