Tagged: MLB
10 Things I’m Watching In 2015: First Year Managers
As we count down to Spring Training, here’s the fourth installment of my ’10 Things I’m Watching In 2015′ series. Today’s topic: first year managers.
Six Major League Baseball teams will begin the 2015 with a new manager at the helm. The Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers will enter Spring Training with a variety of expectations and hopes that the new manger can lead the team to heights the previous regime was unable to reach.
Since teams change managers for a variety of reasons and teams have varying levels of expectations, it’s unfair to grade every manager on the same scale, but it is interesting to look at how all the current managers fared in their first seasons at the helm.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Chip Hale
Hale is entering his first season as a professional manager.
Atlanta Braves: Fredi Gonzalez
Gonzalez has managed eight seasons and went 89-73 in his first season with the Braves. In his first ever season as a manager he led the Marlins to a 71-91 record.
Baltimore Orioles: Buck Showalter
Showalter led the Orioles to a 69-93 finish in his first full season as manager. Showalter has been a big league manager for 16 seasons. In his first season, he went 76-86 with the Yankees.
Boston Red Sox: John Farrell
Farrell is the dream scenario for managers taking over a new team as he led the Red Sox to a World Series title and a 97-65 record in his first season in Boston. Farrell began his career with the
Blue Jays and went 81-81.
Chicago Cubs: Joe Maddon
Maddon is entering his first season in Chicago. In his first season with Tampa Bay, where he managed for 11 years, he went 61-101.
Chicago White Sox: Robin Ventura
Ventura has led the White Sox for three seasons and posted a 85-77 record in his first season.
Cincinnati Reds: Bryan Price
Price went 76-86 in his first season as a managers.
Cleveland Indians: Terry Francona
Francona led the Indians to a 92-70 record in his first year with Cleveland, but struggled in his first season as a manager as his Phillies went 68-94.
Colorado Rockies: Walt Weiss
Weiss won 74 games and lost 88 during his first season in charge of the Rockies.
Detroit Tigers: Brad Ausmus
The Tigers may have disappointed in the playoffs, but Ausmus’ first season as manager went well as the Tigers finished 90-72.
Houston Astros: A.J. Hinch
Hinch is entering his first year as manager of the Astros. In his first stint as a manager he finished 58-75 with the Diamondbacks.
Kansas City Royals: Ned Yost
Yost received his fair share of criticism in the playoffs, but he’s come a long way. In Yosts’ first
year he led the Brewers to a 68-94 record. In his first year with the Royals, Kansas City went 55-72.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Mike Scioscia
Scioscia took over the Angels job 15 years ago and went 82-80 in his first year.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Don Mattingly
Mattingly went 82-79 in his first campaign with the Dodgers.
Miami Marlins: Mike Redmond
The Marlins look to be on the upswing, but in Redmond’s first season they went 62-100.
Milwaukee Brewers: Ron Roenicke:
Roenicke has managed the Brewers for four seasons. In his first season, the club went 96-66.
Minnesota Twins: Paul Molitor
Molitor is entering his first season as a Major League manager.
New York Mets: Terry Collins
Collins began his career 10 years ago with the Astros and went 66-49. In his first season with the Mets he went 77-85.
New York Yankees: Joe Girardi
Girardi made a name for himself after a 78-84 season in Miami. Once he took over in New York, Girardi went 89-73.
Oakland Athletics: Bob Melvin
Melvin found success right away as he won 93 games in his first year with the Mariners. In his first full season in Oakland, he went 94-68.
Philadelphia Phillies: Ryne Sandberg
Sandberg just finished his first full season at the helm in Philadelphia, where the Phillies went 73-89.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Clint Hurdle
Hurdle began his managerial career with a 67-73 season in Colorado. In his first full season in Pittsburgh, Hurdle’s bunch finished with a 72-90 mark.
San Diego Padres: Bud Black
Black has spent the past eight seasons in Colorado, which began with a 89-74 campaign.
San Francisco Giants: Bruce Bochy
Coming off a third World Series Championship in five seasons, it’s hard to argue with Bochy’s
success as a manager. Bochy went 71-91 in his first year with the Giants and 70-74 in his first season in San Diego.
Seattle Mariners: Lloyd McClendon
McClendon cut his teeth in Pittsburgh and went just 62-100 in his first full season as manager. McClendon had better success in Seattle, going 87-75 in his first full year.
St. Louis Cardinals: Mike Matheny
Matheny went 88-74 in his first season in St. Louis
Tampa Bay Rays: Kevin Cash
Cash is entering his first season as a manager. He is also the first former Rays player to manage the club.
Texas Rangers: Jeff Banister
Banister is set to begin his first season as a manager.
Toronto Blue Jays: John Gibbons
Gibbons, who has spent seven years leading the Blue Jays, went 80-82 during his first season in Toronto.
Washington Nationals: Matt Williams
Williams just concluded his first season as a manager and although the Nationals had an early exit in October, they cruised to an NL East title.Williams led the Nationals to a 96-66 season and won the National League Manager of the Year.
Recap of previous entries:
10 Things I’m Watching In 2015: Madison Bumgarner And The SF Giants
As we count down to Spring Training, here’s the second installment of my ’10 Things I’m Watching In 2015′ series. Today’s focus is on the defending World Champion San Francisco Giants and their ace Madison Bumgarner.
Look at a team that has won three World Series in the past five seasons and you wouldn’t expect to find a lot of holes. Any team on that sort of run would seem like a near guarantee to at least reach the playoffs.
However, that’s not the way the Giants have operated over the past five seasons.
Yes, the Giants have three rings and the word ‘dynasty’ can be associated with them, but they’ve been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde case. After winning the World Series in 2010, San Francisco won 86 games in 2011. Then after another championship in 2012, the Giants won just 76 games in 2013.
So, what will happen in 2015?
Certainly the Giants would like to stay away from that recent trend (although if it guarantees another ring in 2016, then who cares about 2015) but in order to do so they’ll need to replace Pablo Sandoval and Michael Morse.
Nori Aoki and Casey McGehee are solid signings, but the player I’m most interested in watching in 2015 is Madison Bumgarner.
The left-hander has been solid for the Giants with four straight seasons of 30 or more starts and an ERA below 3.40, but this season will be different.
After Bumgarner lit up the national stage and posted a 1.03 ERA in 52 2/3 postseason innings in 2014, Bumgarner has become much more of a household name than he was previously.
While his play under the bright October lights would indicate Bumgarner is the type of player that won’t be fazed by his newfound fame, it could be interesting to see what type of encore he puts on.
Recap of previous entries:
10 Things I’m Watching In 2015: Chicago Cubs
Baseball is finally here. To some it may feel like the season just ended, but to those that live and breathe baseball, it may feel like it’s been gone for an eternity. Either way, there are 10 days left until the first official team workouts here in Arizona and to help pass the time I will be releasing a daily blog post about 10 things I’m excited to watch in 2015.
These posts are in no particular order, so if I list your team or favorite player 10th, fifth or first, there’s no reason to read too much into it. I’m anxious for the upcoming baseball season and these are 10 reasons why:
Things I’m watching in 2015:
Cubs
It’s hard not to be excited and/or curious about the Cubs in 2015. After a tremendous off season there will certainly be a lot of eyes not only on Opening Night, but throughout the entire season.
While the Cubs made plenty of moves over the past few months, the biggest were the additions of Joe Maddon and Jon Lester.
It’s hard to argue with Maddon’s resume. Maddon had a winning record in six of his last seven seasons with the Rays and his team won 90 or more games in five of those seasons. Meanwhile, the Cubs have won 90 or more games just once (2008) since the year 2000.
While hiring Maddon would have constituted a solid off-season, the Cubs weren’t done as they then added Jon Lester via a six year deal worth $155 million.
Lester is coming off a season in which he posted a 2.46 ERA, but will have to adjust to the National League – although it’s hard to imagine that being any sort of drastic adjustment for someone who has been as successful as Lester.
The Cubs also upgraded their rotation when the brought back Jason Hamel. Although Hamel struggled with the A’s, he was 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA as a Cub last season.
Lester and Maddon were clearly the Cubs two biggest moves of the off season, but they aren’t the only reason, I’ll be watching the Cubs this season. Dexter Fowler was a solid addition to the Cubs outfield and the progress of Javier Baez will be interesting to monitor as well.
Jake Arrieta is also coming off of his best ever season as he posted a career high in wins (10) and a career low in ERA (2.53)
Kris Bryant has generated a ton of hype and whenever the Cubs top prospect makes his Major League debut, it will undoubtedly be a major story surrounding the team.
The Cubs are littered with players to watch this season and although it may take them a while to learn to win and completely change the culture in Chicago, the Cubs are going to be one of the most fascinating teams to watch next season.
Pitch clocks? So far…..I’m a fan
Maybe I’m in the minority, maybe I don’t have enough respect or appreciation for “the way baseball has always been played,” but so far I’m a fan of the new Pace of Play Initiatives.
For those unaware, Major League Baseball’s Pace of Game Committee is testing several time-saving measures in the Arizona Fall League this season.
Most notably, is the 20-second pitch clock and the two minute and five second clock between innings.
Three games have been played with the pitch clock in effect and the average time of those games has been two hours and 38 minutes. In fact, that time is even a bit high since one of the three games went 11 innings.
Now, the system is not perfect, the Fall League is not directly comparable to a Major League game and tweaks need to be made, but there is certainly potential and I’m a fan.
Through three games there have only been three pitch clock violations which shows me the players are capable of speeding up the game when prompted.
There have also been multiple occasions when a batter has stood in the box with 40 seconds left on the “innings-break clock” another sign that players can move faster.
I’ve also talked to multiple position players about the pitch-clocks and while they admit it is a bit strange to get used to, they also have said that they like it and can feel the game moving faster.
However, there are also some changes that may need to be made. There are some times where the pitcher, especially if he shakes off a sign or doesn’t get a sign from the catcher right away, looks rushed.
There will also be some changes in the running game as the pitcher can basically no longer simply step off the rubber. Within the allotted 20 seconds the pitcher either has to throw to the plate or throw over to the base. He can’t just step off and look at the runner – unless he hops back on the rubber real quick and throws a pitch.
I expect tweaks perhaps toward the end of the Fall League or maybe in next year’s AFL, but I would not be surprised to see pitch clocks in the MLB in the future.
And assuming they resemble what they’ve looked like thus far in the AFL, I’ll be a fan.
*The Fall League has 14 more pitch clock games scheduled so if things change or if there are any unusual occurrences as a result of the pitch-clock I will certainly write another post and let you all know.
Is Darvish On To Something?
I am not a doctor and neither is Yu Darvish. I wouldn’t pretend to be one and I doubt Darvish would either meaning we can’t take his recent comments as fact or the absolute answer to the Tommy John epidemic sweeping the Major Leagues.
However, at the All-Star break there were 35 pitchers on the Disabled List because of Tommy John surgery which means that whatever teams are trying right now isn’t working. So maybe we should give Darvish’s thoughts some credence.
The Rangers ace opened up to the Japanese media at the All-Star and shared his thoughts on why so many pitchers have been getting hurt.
Sam Onoda of NHK Television shared the transcript with T.R. Sullivan, the Rangers beat writer for MLB.com, and here are some of the more interesting aspects of the conversation:
Q.What is your take on the increase in TJ surgery?
I think there are a lot reasons that are being said and I don’t know the exact reason either but I think it could be the way that we train. The way that we train nowadays is so that we can increase the velocity of our pitches. This is how I tell my training coach, lower body, back, lower back if we concentrate on that area we are able to throw the ball faster, but we are not able to protect the arm and elbow. Since we are throwing the ball faster there is more tension on the ligament, we need to protect that, so (the training) it’s not good. So I think that is the main reason. But people are saying throwing the splitter is not good but I don’t think that puts stress on the elbow. I think the change up has more to do with it as it catches the ring finger. The forkball is different and I think that definitely puts strain on the elbow, the grip of a split finger is shallow and doesn’t differ much than the two seamer.
Q.So you should work on the whole body?
If you’re not going to do it it’s best you don’t do anything. The Japanese aren’t getting injured, in 10 years I only know three or four people that had TJ. There are very few in Japan, over here there is about 10 guys that do TJ in a year, I think that’s due to the way they train. It difficult to train the lower body, you need to balance the training well, and also it’s the number of days between each start I think that’s number one.
Q. Four days rest?
It’s way too short, that’s why they have pitch count limitations but pitch count doesn’t have much to do with it. You could throw 120 pitches 140 pitches and have six days rest and the inflammation on the ligament will all be healed so I think that’ it.
Q.So do you need to adopt to the environment, Strasburg was young but had TJ?
It’s not about adjusting period, I think pitching on 4 days rest is fine, there are a lot more banned substances compared to 10,20 years ago, I’m not saying they were using substances but now a days you can’t even take cold medicine I think that may be a reason too. I don’t think that Matsuzaka,Tanaka, Wada, Fujikawa had damage to their ligaments in Japan, when they came over here they had medical checks so I don’t think they had any issues, so it developed after they came here. So why? I think it’s the time between starts and heavier ball those kind of things.
Q.Do you think a six man rotation will help?
I think that’s the way to go. But if you do that the salary of each player will go down, but if you wanted to protect the player they should add one more spot to the roster. 5 days, 6 days between each start, if you have a minimum of five days I think it would be a lot more easier.
Q.But four days rest is a norm here so don’t you think it’s hard to change?
There are this many TJs, the top brass should talk about why it is so.
Q.Especially young ones?
It’s such a waste (of talent) The top brass of organizations should protect them, I think by doing so it would profitable so they should talk about it.
Teams have certainly tried plenty of things to prevent injuries to pitchers such as limiting innings and installing pitch counts, but extra rest has not really been considered.
Yes, teams have skipped a guy once through the rotation or pushed him back a day, but no team – as least not that I can recall – has ever continuously given a guy extra rest throughout the bulk of a Major League season.
Although the six-man rotation may work to keep pitchers healthy and may have some merit, there is no way teams will implement it anytime soon.
The name of the game is winning and adding a sixth starter means less starts for a teams ace.
It is hard enough for teams to put together five quality starters to trot out to the mound each day and adding a sixth would likely have a big impact of a lot of teams.
Since adding a sixth man to the rotation seems to be out of the question, maybe it is worth looking at Darvish’s thoughts on the way pitchers train.
Training is one thing that can be tweaked fairly easily – pitchers and teams can simply institute a new offseason program – and it may have a positive impact.
Is there one concrete solution that will prevent any pitcher from needing Tommy John Surgery ever again? No. Of course not.
However, if the surgeries can be limited it is undoubtedly good for the sport and at this point all options are worth considering.
Is This California’s Year?
“Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild West. A state that’s untouchable like Eliot Ness”
Odds are Dr. Dre and Tupac weren’t thinking of baseball when they came out with “California Love,” but the song – which came out in 1996 – could also serve baseball fans as an introduction to the 2014 playoff races.
There will be great drama and meaningful games across the country throughout the remainder of the season, but it’s time for people to start staying up late and watching the great baseball taking place on the West Coast.
The 2014 season is shaping up to be the first ever in which four teams from California are simultaneously in the playoffs – sorry San Diego.
Twice (A’s, Angels, Giants in 2002 and A’s, Dodgers, Padres in 2006) California has had three teams in the playoffs, but that’s it.
Not only would four teams be historic, but it could also heighten the tension in the playoffs as intrastate series always produce a unique form of drama.
There is plenty of baseball left to be played and injuries or any number of unforeseen variables could alter the postseason picture, but as of now four California teams have tremendous odds of making the postseason.
According to Baseball Prospectus, Oakland has a 99.5 percent chance of making the postseason, Anaheim’s at 99.1 percent, Los Angeles at 84.0 and San Francisco at 78.2.
The A’s are a game and a half up on the Angels in the AL West while the Giants lead the Dodgers by a game in the NL West.
Undoubtedly expanded playoffs have provided this opportunity, but don’t let that discredit what is happening out West as there is some tremendous baseball being played out there. Three of the top four win percentages in baseball come from the state of California and four of the top 10.
The NL West race will be fun to watch for a multitude of reasons, but the simplest is because it’s the Giants and Dodgers.
Whenever those teams square off, tensions are high. Throw in a potential division crown and the nine remaining games between the team that has won two of the last four World Series and the team that has a league-high $242,128,402 payroll are sure to provide compelling story lines.
The A’s and Angels don’t have quite the same rivalry, but the AL West race – a race between teams with the two best records in baseball – isn’t hurting for reasons to watch.
Not only are the Angels and A’s going to go head-to-head six more times on the field this season, but they have also been duking it out in the front offices.
The A’s made the biggest splash of the trading season when they acquired Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Cubs, but the Angels weren’t going to be outdone. The Angels have bolstered their bullpen through trades and have added Joe Thatcher, Jason Grilli and Huston Street.
The AL West race is also intriguing because the teams – despite a lot of similarities – are opposite when it comes to perception. The A’s, despite having won the division each of the past two season, are a team devoid of superstars and often lacked recognition. The Angels finished third in the division in 2012 and 2013, but because their roster features Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton they still had no troubles finding their way into the headlines.
West Coast teams are likely to play a big role in the second half of the season and as the calendar turns to Fall, California is not a bad place to be.
California knows how to party.
And this year, one of four baseball teams may prove it.
Welcome
Welcome and thank you for taking the time to read my first blog post here.
The 2014 season is just my second with MLB.com, but there have already been so many things I’ve heard, witnessed or experienced that I was unable to share with anyone other than close friends and family.
Since those moments will only continue to add up and there is no reason they should be locked up in my memory, I have decided to create this blog in order to improve my interactions with you – fellow baseball fans.
This blog won’t be a place where I recap every little roster move or write game recaps, but instead will serve as a place where we can debate, interact and simply talk about baseball.
My first “real post” will come tomorrow night, either during or after the All-Star game, but in the meantime feel free to reach out in the comments section below, on Twitter (@wboor) or shoot me an email at william.boor@mlb.com.
Once again, thanks for stopping by.
Boor on Baseball 