Meghan Montemurro

The News Journal

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Clay Buchholz's 10 seasons in Boston had it all.

Five times the Red Sox reached the postseason. Twice they hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy and celebrated a World Series title. And in those other five seasons, Boston failed to make the playoffs.

Yet through the ups and downs of that decade, the standard the Red Sox's organization set for its players never wavered.

"Everybody in the clubhouse has to have the same mentality that they don't like to lose and winning's the only option," Buchholz said. "In Boston, that was expected every year. Some years it didn't happen, but it was still expected. To get to that point where everybody expects to win, that's when you turn the corner."

The concept of a winning mentality can be hard to quantify, but it has value within the Phillies' organization. It influenced the type of players they targeted in the offseason, resulting in Buchholz's addition to the rotation as well as Howie Kendrick and Michael Saunders for the middle of the lineup.

"Learning how to win and for this franchise learning how to take that next step, that’s going to be critical," general manager Matt Klentak said.

Part of the reason the Phillies signed Saunders as a free agent, Klentak explained, was because of his dual experience playing on the largely young, struggling teams when he was with the Seattle Mariners (2009-14) and then on the veteran Blue Jays squad that is coming off back-to-back American League Championship Series appearances.

Saunders, better than most of the players in the Phillies' clubhouse, grasps the challenge of transforming into a consistent playoff-contending team.

"I think the hardest part is every day expecting to win when you come in the clubhouse," Saunders said. "It’s an attitude and a mentality. Because you’re at different parts in your careers and part of that is trying to stay here.

"One of the hardest things is expecting to win even when you’re not playing well individually or when the team’s going through a little bit of a rut. Just understanding the best teams in the world go through the same thing. You need to understand what you do well individually as a player and what your role is on the team, come in here every day and expect to win."

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Kendrick learned about this philosophy as he came up through the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's organization, eventually debuting in Major League Baseball with the team at 22 years old in 2006. The Angels were one of the most consistently successful teams in baseball during Kendrick's nine-year tenure, winning at least 89 games six times with four playoff appearances and four American League West Division titles.

The Angels set their expectations from Day 1 when a player joined their minor-league system, and it rippled all the way through to the majors.

As Kendrick explained it if you didn't approach the game the right way and successfully execute fundamentals, well, forget about advancing to the next level. While it might seem like a basic concept, setting that foundation is imperative.

"When you get guys buying into that at a young age and that's all you know going through the system, it becomes second nature when you get to the major leagues," Kendrick said. "Once guys made it to the major leagues, they weren't asking you to do something that you didn't already know how to do. I feel like that, those things contribute to who you are as a player. It becomes a style of play.

"Not everybody is the same and that's the joy of the game," Kendrick added. "Every guy is different in here, but we can all do some things the same way and go in the right direction to help win ballgames."

Kendrick believes that much of the Angels' success, particularly in close games, could be traced to the approaches instilled through the minors that were reinforced at the Major-League level. An ability to execute with the game on the line is a thread within the fabric of success.

He's confident that the guys on the Phillies who have already played two or three seasons in Major League Baseball are young enough that they're still learning. It's why the Phillies wanted to bring in veterans beyond improving the lineup and offering protection for young hitters Maikel Franco, Odubel Herrera and Tommy Joseph.

Rather than there being one lightbulb-flickering-on moment for Kendrick, he was mentored by Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson, and Torii Hunter during his time in Anaheim where he got to play alongside them and watch how they conducted themselves in the locker room. The experience had a profound effect, one he also hopes to have on his new, young Philadelphia teammates.

"If I can give back any of that that I've learned from somebody else, then I'll be happy for a guy to say, man, I played with this guy," Kendrick said. "Those guys are truly special players, and I'm honored to have shared a locker room with them. Hopefully, somebody says that about me one day."

Adopting a fresh mentality, one the franchise hopes will contribute to more wins and playoff success isn't an overnight process and may take longer than just this season.

For Saunders, his shift in philosophy and making a mental switch occurred after a tough 2011 season. By then, three years into his big-league career in Seattle, his struggles had him consider leaving MLB and playing in Japan. Watching his mother succumb to a 13-year battle with breast cancer during the 2011 campaign helped him realize in the offseason to accept failure.

Saunders wasn't scared to fail anymore. He realized after what his mother endured, posting an 0-fer in a game wasn't so bad.

"You can be 0 for 3 but then be the hero in your last at-bat and drive in that game-winning run," Saunders said. "It took me a little while. Not many guys come up and get it right away – the rare few, the Albert Pujols’, those guys, the greatest players in the world. But a lot of us go through those ups and downs and those failures and it’s just how you deal with those."

That learning process is an important part of 2017 for the Phillies with a 40-man roster that features 29 players who are 26 years old or younger. And after five consecutive years without a winning season, they must build a collective mindset centered on shedding the losing ways.

"It’s kind of like an aura in the clubhouse where you might have lost two in a row, but everyone comes in with their head held high and confident," Saunders said. "I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s not just individual, but we have to buy into it as a team."

Contact Meghan Montemurro at mmontemurro@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @M_Montemurro.