As you know better than anyone baseball managers are a dime a dozen very rarely are they difference makers. Most of their worth comes in a breath of fresh air when the previous manager has contributed to a stale atmosphere.
I'm convinced no matter what happens Girardi will be back. He's Cashman's guy and I expect Cashman to power play him into being back if he needs to. I don't think it will matter much except to those of us who watch 150 games a year and see the team managed by a passive cyborg.
There are much worse game managers than Girardi in MLB. Terry Collins is as bad as I've ever seen and his team almost won the WS. Joe Madden is considered one of the best and he did everything he could to lose the WS last year unfortunately it didn't work.
So like we both seem agree if the Yankees can improve the starting pitching and the key young players don't fall off a cliff Girardi is just along for the ride anyway.
As long as there is evidence that most players do well playing for him.
The average guys like Ellsbury, Headley, Gardner, Frazier have played to career norms and no worse ( taken as a group)
As long as there is evidence that young players do well and are played ( can you imagine St Joe with his dislike of young players and over reliance on one bullpen arm with this roster and the new players yet to be entrusted to his "judgement" ?).
I could argue that Judge, C Frazier and Hicks and Bird all did well or learned by something/approach Girardi/coaching is doing
Now, the third base coach lost us three games if not more with bonehead decisions to send people this year.
And I would argue that the over all results of the pitchers hide two things that lead me to question the pitching coach:
- When pitchers got inconsistent or lost their mechanics or their feel for a pitch...I did not see that they got fixed as much as they fixed themselves. To his credit, during the long season Girardi stayed with position guys of talent he needed to work things out. That worked with the position players but I am not sure the pitching coaching can claim they helped anyone.
- I don't think Betances or Chapman came into the season with the heads or the shape that matched their reputations. Who do they listen to? Or respect?
Lastly, Sanchez on defense cost us at least one to three games this year.
IF the third base coach and Sanchez on defense did better this year...we get to be Division Leaders and face Houston.
In which case we would be in trouble...not because of the manager but because we need 2 more pitchers and one of them has to be an ace for us to climb the next notch.
Lets watch...every losing team in a playoff series has examples of bad managing. And as you noted many a winner does as well.
One of the attractions of baseball is that the average guy could have managed better. Its obvious.
One of the attractions of football is that it is complex enough to have something to debate all the time.
Both sports draw us in partially because some calls are so boneheaded every game that its tempting to think we could do better
There was an article a few months ago I'm not sure if you saw linked below. Cashman has assembled a bullpen filled with power arms. He's also spent millions of dollars on an analytics staff which he's using to tell Rothschild/Girardi he wants the Yankees to throw more curveballs. My opinion as an untrained observer that's why Betances especially and Chapman have struggle so badly. No "proof" just the eye test.
Quote:
The Yankees went into Fenway Park and thoroughly throttled Boston's deep lineup in its tiny ballpark. New York's pitchers posted a 1.76 ERA over four games. The Yankees split the series, though they should have taken three of four, but for a meltdown by closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning of the opener.
Here’s the cutting edge part: New York's pitchers threw only 40.7% fastballs in the series. (Fastballs here are defined as four-seam and two-seam fastballs, not cut fastballs.)
For the Yankees, this was not an anomaly. They throw the fewest fastballs in baseball, and it’s not even close. They average a fastball rate of just 43.1%. Houston is next lowest at 47.3%.
What makes New York's low fastball usage all the more surprising is that its pitchers have the highest average velocity of any team in baseball (94.3 mph, tied with Pittsburgh).
I asked New York's pitching guru, coach Larry Rothschild, to explain this new world of pitching.
“Fastballs get hit,” Rothschild said. “It’s amazing to me to see guys throwing in the upper 90s and they get hit. I don’t know how these guys do it. That’s how good major league hitters are. They have adjusted to velocity. To hit upper 90s, you have to gear up for upper 90s. So hitters are going up there to gear up for velocity. And when they do that, they can hit it no matter how hard you throw.
Yes. Saw that. Agree its a concern. But to me Betances is an possible ...possible ...emotional issue from the Levine based BS of the arbitration hearing and a headcase issue as he falls apart with men on base plus an inability to hold onto his mechanics.
The first possibility is on Levine. The second is on Betances. The Third is on a pitching coaches. imho
Gone are the days when Mariano could precisely repeat his motion for years and years on end. That is a kind of physical intelligence and athletic ability few have
You are the manager. its the inning. Its the game ahead and another tomorrow.
Name each pitcher you would pick instead for each inning?
Go ahead...name the clear clear better choice without hindsight?
Its right in front of you...right this second. Don't choke or get wound too tight now...its just BBI and your intelligence on the line
Name 3 successful clearly better managers with a more aggressive approach?
Name a more aggressive choice set sequence of pitchers per inning from what was available?
Go for it...
Tough to see such a way to lose as last night so shortly after seeing the Giants so far.
I'm convinced no matter what happens Girardi will be back. He's Cashman's guy and I expect Cashman to power play him into being back if he needs to. I don't think it will matter much except to those of us who watch 150 games a year and see the team managed by a passive cyborg.
There are much worse game managers than Girardi in MLB. Terry Collins is as bad as I've ever seen and his team almost won the WS. Joe Madden is considered one of the best and he did everything he could to lose the WS last year unfortunately it didn't work.
So like we both seem agree if the Yankees can improve the starting pitching and the key young players don't fall off a cliff Girardi is just along for the ride anyway.
As long as there is evidence that most players do well playing for him.
The average guys like Ellsbury, Headley, Gardner, Frazier have played to career norms and no worse ( taken as a group)
As long as there is evidence that young players do well and are played ( can you imagine St Joe with his dislike of young players and over reliance on one bullpen arm with this roster and the new players yet to be entrusted to his "judgement" ?).
I could argue that Judge, C Frazier and Hicks and Bird all did well or learned by something/approach Girardi/coaching is doing
Now, the third base coach lost us three games if not more with bonehead decisions to send people this year.
And I would argue that the over all results of the pitchers hide two things that lead me to question the pitching coach:
- When pitchers got inconsistent or lost their mechanics or their feel for a pitch...I did not see that they got fixed as much as they fixed themselves. To his credit, during the long season Girardi stayed with position guys of talent he needed to work things out. That worked with the position players but I am not sure the pitching coaching can claim they helped anyone.
- I don't think Betances or Chapman came into the season with the heads or the shape that matched their reputations. Who do they listen to? Or respect?
Lastly, Sanchez on defense cost us at least one to three games this year.
IF the third base coach and Sanchez on defense did better this year...we get to be Division Leaders and face Houston.
In which case we would be in trouble...not because of the manager but because we need 2 more pitchers and one of them has to be an ace for us to climb the next notch.
Lets watch...every losing team in a playoff series has examples of bad managing. And as you noted many a winner does as well.
One of the attractions of baseball is that the average guy could have managed better. Its obvious.
One of the attractions of football is that it is complex enough to have something to debate all the time.
Both sports draw us in partially because some calls are so boneheaded every game that its tempting to think we could do better
Here’s the cutting edge part: New York's pitchers threw only 40.7% fastballs in the series. (Fastballs here are defined as four-seam and two-seam fastballs, not cut fastballs.)
For the Yankees, this was not an anomaly. They throw the fewest fastballs in baseball, and it’s not even close. They average a fastball rate of just 43.1%. Houston is next lowest at 47.3%.
What makes New York's low fastball usage all the more surprising is that its pitchers have the highest average velocity of any team in baseball (94.3 mph, tied with Pittsburgh).
I asked New York's pitching guru, coach Larry Rothschild, to explain this new world of pitching.
“Fastballs get hit,” Rothschild said. “It’s amazing to me to see guys throwing in the upper 90s and they get hit. I don’t know how these guys do it. That’s how good major league hitters are. They have adjusted to velocity. To hit upper 90s, you have to gear up for upper 90s. So hitters are going up there to gear up for velocity. And when they do that, they can hit it no matter how hard you throw.
Let's hope the conversation after today is game 4 not what happens in the off season.
Slow down: The Yankees are leading a change in baseball by abandoning a principle of pitching - ( New Window )
The first possibility is on Levine. The second is on Betances. The Third is on a pitching coaches. imho
Gone are the days when Mariano could precisely repeat his motion for years and years on end. That is a kind of physical intelligence and athletic ability few have