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River Ave. Blues » Marcus Thames

Year Two with Aaron Boone and his Coaching Staff [2019 Season Preview]

March 26, 2019 by Mike

(Presswire)

Overall, Aaron Boone’s first season as Yankees manager was a success. The ending was disappointing, there’s no doubt about that, but the club won 100 games despite injuries (Aaron Judge) and unforeseen performance issues (Gary Sanchez), and the Yankees seamlessly broke in high-end youngsters like Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. I think we all would’ve signed up for that at this time last year.

Boone’s on-field managerial style was very similar to Joe Girardi’s. He built his lineups the same way, meaning he sandwiched a lefty between his big righty bats (or vice versa) even though the off-hand player’s production suggested it wasn’t the best idea. He employed set bullpen roles and also rested his players on a schedule no matter what they did the day before. Everything we complained about with Boone we also complained about with Girardi.

Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner indicated the managerial change was made for communication reasons and, as outsiders, there’s really no way we can evaluate that. Boone is much better with the media than Girardi, which is not nothing, but it’s not what Cashman and Hal meant by communication either. They meant the behind the scenes work, including digesting and disseminating information provided by the front office.

As the Yankees prepare to begin the 2019 regular season, Boone no longer qualifies as a rookie manager but he’s not a grizzled veteran either. At the very least, nothing will be new to him. He’d been through Spring Training already, been through the grind of the regular season, and been through the postseason as well. Last year was the first time for everything. That isn’t the case now. Let’s preview the upcoming season to come in the dugout.

The Second Year Manager

The last time we saw the Yankees and Boone, he mismanaged the bullpen and the pitching staff in general to an embarrassing ALDS defeat. Starters were repeatedly left in too long and relievers were brought into situations that did not match their skill sets (Lance Lynn with the bases loaded and no outs? really???). There’s a pretty good chance the Yankees lose the ALDS anyway even with perfect managerial moves, but Boone was no help, and his moves left a real bad taste in everyone’s mouth.

“I hate to be too generic, but everything,” said Boone at the Winter Meetings when asked what he wants to do better going forward. “And I don’t know it’s so much self-evaluating as you go through the winter, every day is an evaluation. Every day you come in during the season, whether you won, whether you lost, whether a move worked out, you know, a decision made, hopefully you’re always taking stock of those things and evaluating, and putting into your experience and learning from it.”

Learning from those ALDS mistakes is imperative. We just won’t know whether it actually happened for a few months. Managing the pitching staff during the regular season is way different than managing the pitching staff during the postseason. Quick hooks and heavy bullpen usage works in October but not April through September. That’s a good way to burn everyone out during the summer. The regular season is a marathon, the postseason is a sprint, and they require different managerial styles.

“I think at times some of the (unpredictable) things that come across the desk almost on a daily basis, from minor things to things that are more serious, and how you handle those,” said Boone when asked what the biggest challenge was last season. “You never know how you’re going to handle those. And that’s a challenge. You’re never totally prepared, I guess, for all the different things that do come across on a daily basis. So I would say that’s the biggest challenge, the unknown of what’s around the corner … Things come up all the time that you’ve got to deal with in real time. That’s a challenge.”

I thought Boone was very good during the regular season. His on-field moves were almost indistinguishable from Girardi’s. They were so similar that I have to believe the front office has a lot of input into the day-to-day decisions. In the postseason though, Boone’s perceived inability to read the situation and react accordingly was impossible to ignore. It could be a learning experience and he’ll be better going forward, or it could be a sign his feel for the game is questionable.

As best I can tell, the players love Boone and the front office loves the way he and his coaches take the information they’re given and put it into practice. That was Girardi’s problem, apparently. With Boone, it seems everything went well in year one, and I bet things will go even better in year two now that he has some experience. What happens in the postseason? Who knows. That is a long way off, and yet it seems to be the only thing on everyone’s mind.

“As I sit here today, basically a little bit over a year after I was hired, and being at the Winter Meetings, last year I was learning people in the room’s names and what they did, and what are their values, who are they, how does this all work, who’s got a loud voice in the room, those kind of things. I have relationships with all these people now,” Boone added. “So hopefully I’m so much ahead of the game from where I was last year and hopefully we hit the ground running.”

The Same Ol’ Coaching Staff

Rothschild dresses like me when I go to the corner to get a bagel and coffee. (Presswire)

For only the second time in the last six offseasons, the Yankees did not make a single change to their coaching staff over the winter. Larry Rothschild returns for his ninth season as pitching coach, Mike Harkey is back for his fourth straight year (and tenth overall) as bullpen coach, and everyone else is back for year two. That includes bench coach Josh Bard, first base coach Reggie Willits, third base coach Phil Nevin, hitting coach Marcus Thames, assistant hitting coach P.J. Pilittere, and quality control/infield coach Carlos Mendoza.

There’s no good way to preview a coaching staff so I’m going to list some scattered thoughts instead. One, I’m curious to see what the Yankees and Rothschild have planned for James Paxton. He has a great fastball and he uses it a lot, but his curveball and cutter are pretty good too, so it seems like the potential for improvement with better pitch selection exists. The Mariners have no idea what they’re doing and I’m certain the Yankees acquired Paxton with the idea that they can help him be even better going forward. (Similarly, are any adjustments in the cards for J.A. Happ as he gets up there in age, especially if his fastball continues to lose spin?)

Two, will Nevin be any more aggressive or conservative sending runners? The Yankees were almost perfectly average across the board last year in terms of sending runners home. On one hand, you could argue Nevin should be more conservative going forward because the Yankees have so much power that they shouldn’t risk baserunners. On the other hand, there are bound to be times increased aggression would be worthwhile. It really depends on the situation. I think we might see runners held at tad more going forward.

And three, how much will the defense improve? Specifically Miguel Andujar at third base and Giancarlo Stanton in left field. Mendoza and Andujar work tirelessly on his third base defense. Stanton was much better in left as the season went on but there’s some room for improvement there. Giancarlo in left is a project for Willits. Ultimately, it’s up to the player to improve. Coaching only goes so far. That said, the coaches get praise and receive blame, so Andujar and Stanton will reflect on Mendoza and Willits.

It is basically impossible to evaluate coaches from the outside, so we wind up projecting player performance on to the coaching staff. Talent is the single most important thing and the Yankees have lots of it. They’re going to make the coaches look good. Boone could’ve used his talent better in the postseason last year, and I’m sure there are ways Rothschild, Thames, and the other coaches could help their players get more out of their ability. Seeing how (or if) it happens is part of the fun.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: 2019 Season Preview, Aaron Boone, Carlos Mendoza, Josh Bard, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, P.J. Pilittere, Phil Nevin, Reggie Willits

The Coaching Staff [2018 Season Review]

December 5, 2018 by Mike

Mike Harkey won Players Weekend. (Presswire)

Along with a new manager came a (mostly) new coaching staff in 2018. And similar to their new manager, the Yankees went young and inexperienced with their coaching staff. Veterans Tony Pena and Alan Cockrell were let go and Yankees lifer Rob Thomson was allowed to join the Phillies after being passed over for the manager’s gig. Five of the seven coaching positions were turned over — the five new coaches combined for six years of prior MLB coaching experience — and an eighth was added.

Evaluating coaches is almost impossible from the outside. Generally speaking, all we do is project player performance onto the coach. So much of a coach’s work — all of the coach’s work, really — takes place behind the scenes. With the manager, we look at lineups and bullpen moves. With coaches we look at, uh, player performance? That’s really it. And coaches are coaches, not miracle workers. They can do all the teaching in the world. Ultimately, it’s up to the player to listen and execute. So, with that in mind, let’s review the year in the coaching ranks.

The Holdovers: Larry Rothschild & Mike Harkey

Pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bullpen coach Mike Harkey were the only holdovers from Joe Girardi’s staff. The only holdovers who remained in the same role, I should say. I thought Harkey was a goner for sure. He and Girardi have been extremely close dating back to their days as players with the Cubs. They’re tight and I assumed — incorrectly — that Harkey would be shown the door once Girardi was cut loose. Instead, Harkey remained.

There was never any talk about replacing Rothschild. In fact, it was made clear Rothschild would remain pitching coach no matter who the Yankees hired as manager. The Yankees love the way he blends hands-on instruction with analytics. Rothschild has been the pitching coach since 2011 and, since then, the Yankees lead all teams in pitching WAR (+167.1) and they’re third in park adjusted ERA (93 ERA-). This season’s ranks:

  • ERA: 3.78 (10th in MLB)
  • FIP: 3.63 (3rd)
  • ERA-: 87 (4th)
  • FIP-: 82 (2nd)
  • K/BB: 3.31 (5th)
  • WAR: +26.6 (3rd)

Yankee Stadium is very hitter friendly — very home run friendly, more accurately — and that inevitably skews numbers. Adjust for the ballpark and the Yankees were again among the top run prevention teams in the game in 2018. They allowed the fifth fewest run in the American League this past season. Every year, without fail, the narrative is the Yankees need pitching. And, also every year, they manage to finish with some of the best run prevention numbers in the game.

Rothschild and Harkey are a team. The bullpen coach does a lot more than answer the phone. They both have a role implementing strategies — the anti-fastball plan is one of the most extreme pitching philosophy shifts in recent memory — and helping pitchers through inevitable bumps. Some struggles are uglier than others. Getting Luis Severino on track is a top priority going into next season. By and large, the Yankees get good work on the mound, yet much of the time all the talk is about the Yankees needing pitching.

The Promoted Coaches: Marcus Thames & P.J. Pilittere

The Yankees have been grooming Thames for their big league hitting coach job for years now. His playing career ended in 2011 and he joined the Yankees as a coach in 2013. His roles over the years:

  • 2013: High-A Tampa hitting coach
  • 2014: Double-A Trenton hitting coach
  • 2015: Triple-A Scranton hitting coach
  • 2016-17: Yankees assistant hitting coach
  • 2018: Yankees hitting coach

Thames worked his way up the coaching ladder and along the way he worked with the organization’s top young players, from Aaron Judge to Gary Sanchez to Greg Bird. The same is true with Pilittere, who joined the Yankees as a coach after his playing career ended. He was the hitting coach one level below Thames these last few seasons and followed him up the ladder:

  • 2012: Gulf Coast League hitting coach
  • 2013: Low-A Charleston hitting coach
  • 2014: High-A Tampa hitting coach
  • 2015-16: Double-A Trenton hitting coach
  • 2017: Triple-A Scranton hitting coach
  • 2018: Yankees assistant hitting coach

The Yankees were second in baseball with 851 runs scored this season and they almost certainly would’ve been first (the Red Sox scored 876 runs) had Judge and Sanchez not missed so much time. The team’s park adjusted 111 wRC+ tied the Dodgers for the best in baseball. The Yankees combined baseball’s second highest walk rate (10.0%) with a league average strikeout rate (22.7%) and absurd power numbers this year. Why? Because of the players. Not so much the coaches. Thames and Pilittere have extensive experience with the team’s core young players and that’s an obvious plus.

The New Bench Coach: Josh Bard

Boone & Bard. (Presswire)

The Yankees hired Bard away from the Dodgers to be Boone’s right-hand man and he checked all the boxes. He’s a former player, he has front office experience (special assistant with the Dodgers from 2013-15), and he has coaching experience (Dodgers bullpen coach from 2016-17), so he’s done a little of everything. He can relate to players and fellow coaches on several different levels. Bard is seen as a rising star in the coaching and managerial ranks.

His first season as bench coach went … okay? I guess? How could anyone tell? There was some thought Boone would benefit from an having experienced bench coach, but if the Yankees wanted someone experienced pulling the strings, they would’ve hiring an experienced manager. The information that flows from the front office to the coaching staff has to be dissected and disseminated to the players. Some players like data. Some hate it. Bard helps provide that personal touch to get through to everyone. How’d his season go? Seemed okay to me. Shrug.

The New Third Base: Phil Nevin

Finally, a coaching performance we can kinda evaluate statistically. Nevin and Boone grew up together but this wasn’t a case of the Yankees hiring the manager’s buddy. Nevin managed several years in the minors and was the Giants third base coach last season. He’d interviewed for several managerial jobs in the past too. Nevin was more than qualified for the job.

So anyway, what does the third base coach do? He sends or holds runners rounding third, for the most part. There are some other job requirements but that’s the most visible one. The Yankees had 19 runners thrown out at the plate this past season and that was right in the middle of the pack. Fifteenth most in baseball. What about his holds and sends though? Some numbers:

Yankees MLB Average
Runner on second stops at third on a single 39.0% 37.3%
Runner on second scores on a single 57.3% 58.9%
Runner on second thrown out at home on a single 3.7% 3.8%
Runner on first stops at third on a double 53.3% 54.8%
Runner on first scores on a double 44.1% 42.5%
Runner on first thrown out at home in a double 2.6% 2.7%

Average across the board. A percentage point or two away from average in either direction equals average to me. It’s not a big difference. So, on one hand, Nevin did a good job not getting Yankees thrown out at home more than they should’ve. On the other hand, Nevin didn’t really get the Yankees any extra runs with his sends. He was, well, average.

A case could be made Nevin should be more conservative going forward, meaning he should hold runners at third at a higher rate than the league average because the Yankees sock so many dingers that it’s not worth the risk of having a runner potentially thrown out at the plate. Personnel obviously matters (Brett Gardner has a better chance to score from first on a double than Gary Sanchez, for example) but that’s the idea. Play it safe and let ’em swing away.

That said, we’re only talking a handful of baserunners here. Again, the Yankees had 19 runners thrown out the plate this past season. That’s not many in the grand scheme of things. Holding five or six of them might lead to a few extra runs over the course of a season, but probably not. Point is, the Yankees did not have an exorbitant number of runners thrown out at the plate in Nevin’s first season as third base coach. They were as average as can be.

Personally, my favorite Nevin moment came in April after the Joe Kelly-Tyler Austin brawl at Fenway Park. When asked about the brawl, Nevin said “I’m going to wear less layers tomorrow because geez I look fat with my sweatshirt, my jersey, and all that” after the game (video link). Love it. Others enjoyed Nevin laying into the team in the dugout for sloppy play in an August game. It didn’t do anything — the Yankees lost that game and the next four — but it was the thought that counts.

Nevin is an old school baseball dude. He is the ying to Boone’s and Bard’s yang. They’re the new age analytic types. Nevin is the opposite. It’s good to have that balance on the coaching staff, I think.

The New First Base Coach: Reggie Willits

Willits spent several years in the farm system as an outfield and baserunning instructor and the Yankees elevated him to the big league staff this year. The first base coach times the battery for basestealing purposes. He literally times the pitcher’s delivery. That combined with the catcher’s pop time tell you whether attempting to steal with a certain runner makes sense. The Yankees went 63-for-21 (75%) stealing bases this year. The league average stolen base success rate was 72.1%. So I guess Willits did a good job there.

Moreso than the stolen bases as first base coach, Willits had two big projects as the outfield instructor this year. One, he had to prepare Giancarlo Stanton to play left field. Stanton had some noticeable blunders early, thankfully all in meaningless Spring Training games, but by midseason he looked comfortable out there. I didn’t think it would take Stanton long to adjust and it didn’t. I’m sure Willits helped with that adjustment to some degree.

And two, Willits had to give Neil Walker a crash course in the outfield. Judge and Clint Frazier were hurt in August and Stanton was nursing his hamstring injury, plus Shane Robinson wasn’t cutting it, so the Yankees threw Walker into the fire in right field. He had 14 career games worth of outfield experience at the time, all in Triple-A in 2010. Walker did about as well as the Yankees could’ve hoped. He caught the balls he was supposed to catch and not much else. Willits was in charge of making it happen.

The New Quality Control Coach: Carlos Mendoza

The Yankees added a new coaching position this season. Officially, the title is Quality Control Coach/Infield Instructor. A few teams these days have a Quality Control Coach, whatever that is. The Yankees promoted Mendoza, their longtime minor league infield coordinator, into that role. Similar to Willits and Mendoza and Pilittere, Mendoza had been in a farm system for a few years and had worked with many young Yankees.

His primary focus this season was working with Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar on their defense. Gleyber was still relatively new to second base when he was called up and, well, Andujar needs a lot of help. Mendoza was out on the field every single afternoon working with Andujar. In my limited time as a BBWAA dude, I’ve never seen a player take that many ground balls before games. Mendoza was very persistent, if nothing else.

What’s Next?

The entire coaching staff is coming back next season. Brian Cashman confirmed that a few weeks ago. Well, the Orioles still don’t have a manager or coaching staff (for real), so I suppose Baltimore could pry one the Yankees’ coaches loose, but it seems unlikely. Not much more to say than that, really. The Yankees were quite good this season and, as far as I can tell, the coaches did fine work.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: 2018 Season Review, Carlos Mendoza, Josh Bard, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, P.J. Pilittere, Phil Nevin, Reggie Willits

The New Manager and Coaching Staff [2018 Season Preview]

March 27, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Boone. (Presswire)

Managerial job security isn’t what it used to be. Joe Girardi, in his tenth season with the Yankees, led a team that exceeded all expectations to Game Seven of the ALCS last year. His reward? Unemployment. The Yankees cut ties with Girardi after the season and Hal Steinbrenner said he probably would’ve authorized the managerial change even if the Yankees had won the World Series. Ouch.

“We do not make changes at that level lightly, so it was a very difficult and challenging decision,” said Brian Cashman soon after it was announced Girardi would not be retained. “Easiest call would be plug and play and continue in safe harbor arena. I have never been safe harbor kind of person … Our issues and concerns were the ability to engage, fully communicate, and connect with the playing personnel.”

Rather than recycle an experienced big league manager or promote someone from within, the Yankees took a risk and named former Yankee Aaron Boone their new skipper. He has no prior coaching or managerial experience. None. Nada. Boone went from playing to the broadcast booth to managing. He reportedly blew the Yankees away during the interview and convinced Cashman & Co. that he’s the right guy for the job.

“I wanted this opportunity and I wanted this challenge. I wanted to be back on this side of things. I want to chase the prize,” said Boone to Mike Lupica earlier this month. “I’ll say it again, what pulled me back to this side of things was chasing that prize.”

That prize is, of course, a World Series championship, something Boone never won as a player. (The 2003 postseason was the only time he played in the postseason in his career.) And that’s the goal this year: Win the World Series. This is a win-now roster and a win-now organization. The Yankees brought a rookie manager into a situation where the goal is to be the last team standing, and, to be fair, they are not the only team in recent memory to do that. The Dodgers (Dave Roberts) and Nationals (Dave Martinez) both hired inexperienced managers in recent years.

Boone’s first Spring Training as manager went, well, like any other Spring Training. And that’s a good thing. It was business as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary happened — aside from that whole “forget to warm up Adam Warren” incident — and, to paraphrase Boone’s predecessor, that is what you want. A normal spring. By way of a preview, I have some thoughts and observations about the new manager.

1. Boone has a Torre-esque quality. Specifically his calm and the way he’s able to diffuse things with the media. Girardi was a great manager. He was not so great with the media, which is not insignificant. They can make your life miserable. Joe Torre’s best trait was, by far, the way he handled the media and diffused unfavorable situations. He was asked about whatever, he shot it down in a way that closed the book, and that was that. Girardi had a tendency to ramble and let things fester for a few days.

This spring Boone has been more Torre than Girardi when it comes to his daily briefings with the media. That Warren situation a few weeks back? It would’ve been easy for the rookie manager to blame someone else — calling down to the bullpen to tell a reliever to warm up is definitely something that gets delegated to a coach — but instead Boone took the blame, owned up to the mistake, and that was it. It was a non-issue going forward. Boone will be under the microscope all year and he could’ve shifted blame for that mistake. He owned it and that was that.

The Yankees hired Boone partly because of his communication skills, specifically his ability to interact with his players, but those communication skills also apply to the media. Torre was a master at keeping the peace and limiting distractions. Boone seems to have a similar quality, though, to be fair, he has yet to face a real crisis or even manage a regular season game. We’ll see if things change once the games start to count.

2. He’s willing to be open-minded. Everyone seems to be looking for the new Joe Maddon, that manager willing to be unconventional and try new things. Why? Because it’s different, mostly. Maddon has had success doing that but many managers have had success not doing that. To each his own. But many fans seem to want their team to hire the next Maddon. The next smart manager willing to think outside the box.

Boone, if nothing else, seems to be open-minded. He’s talked about batting Aaron Judge leadoff against lefties and Cashman confirmed that was a conversation initiated by Boone. Boone also said that, aside from Aroldis Chapman at closer, he plans to use his setup relievers interchangeably, rather than assign set roles or innings. He doesn’t want his speedy baserunners to risk outs on the bases because the Yankees have so much power. Who knows whether anything will actually come of this. For now, Boone is talking the talk. We’ll soon see if he walks the walk too.

Bard. (Presswire)

3. Let’s talk about the rest of the coaching staff. When the Yankees cut ties with Girardi, they also cut ties with much of his coaching staff. Joe Espada left to join the Astros, and Tony Pena and Alan Cockrell weren’t retained. Pitching coach Larry Rothschild stuck around, as did assistant hitting coach Marcus Thames and bullpen coach Mike Harkey. Otherwise the coaching staff is full of fresh faces:

  • Bench Coach: Josh Bard (had been Dodgers bench coach)
  • Pitching Coach: Larry Rothschild (retained)
  • Hitting Coach: Marcus Thames (promoted from assistant hitting coach)
  • Assistant Hitting Coach: P.J. Pilittere (promoted from Triple-A Scranton)
  • First Base Coach: Reggie Willits (promoted from player development staff)
  • Third Base Coach: Phil Nevin (had been Giants third base coach)
  • Bullpen Coach: Mike Harkey (retained)
  • Catching Coach: Jason Brown (promoted from bullpen catcher)
  • Quality Control Coach: Carlos Mendoza (promoted from player development staff)

Bard was Boone’s teammate with the Indians back in the day, and he spent time with the Dodgers (another progressive analytics driven organization) in both the front office and on the coaching staff, so has experience on both sides of the table. He’ll help Boone quite a bit, I imagine. Nevin is more old school and that’s a necessary balance. Sometimes you need that tough love.

The coaches who were promoted from within all have experience with the young Yankees on the roster. Willits, formerly the minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator, worked with Judge during his days in the minors. He also worked with Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade and others. Mendoza was the minor league infield coordinator, meaning he spent time with Wade, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar. Pilittere has been a hitting coach at various levels over the years and he’s worked with pretty much every young Yankee at some point.

Brown, interestingly enough, is making the jump from bullpen catcher to full-time catching coach, meaning he will be tasked with helping Gary Sanchez improve his defense. He and Cashman spoke to Billy Witz about this recently:

“Everything we do as catchers starts from that stance, that setup, whether it’s the receiving, the blocking, the throwing,” said Jason Brown, the Yankees’ new catching coach. “That’s the foundation. It’s more natural for smaller guys. For Gary, it’s something that he’s been working on.”

…

(Cashman) also said Sanchez was uncomfortable with the pregame workout routine that last year’s catching coach, Tony Pena, and manager, Joe Girardi, had implemented.

In the second half of the season, Sanchez returned to the pregame regimen he had used in the minor leagues.

Hmmm. Last year Sanchez went from eleven passed balls in his first 61 games at catcher to five passed balls in his final 43 games, so he went from one every 5.45 games to one every 8.60 games. That’s better! Whether it’s real improvement or just official scoring noise is another matter. Either way, Brown is now the full-time catching coach. He is in charge of helping Sanchez (and Austin Romine) improve his catching.

The Yankees made sweeping changes to their coaching staff over the winter, but because so many of the new coaches came up from the farm system, they already have a working relationship with many players. They’re not coming in blind. Also, Bard caught CC Sabathia with the Indians and Nevin managed both Didi Gregorius and Brandon Drury in Triple-A while with the Diamondbacks, so there is some familiarity there as well. Clearly though, the Yankees wanted some new leadership and new voices in the clubhouse. They have that in Boone and they have it with his coaching staff.

* * *

My fearlessly bold prediction is the Yankees will win a lot of games this season because they are incredibly talented, and Boone will look like a genius manager. He’s in position to get a lot of credit. And, when things inevitably go wrong, he’ll get the blame. The Yankees will lose three straight at some point. They’ll score like four runs in a three-game series at some point. That’s baseball. When it happens, fingers will be pointed at Boone.

That comes with the territory. You sign up to be manager of the Yankees, you have to take the good with the bad. Boone is a baseball lifer. He knows the game. I have no doubt about that. I also have no doubt that he’s passionate about the job, that he cares for his players, and that he understands the expectations. Girardi was a very good manager and keeping him would’ve been justifiable. The Yankees decided to be bold though, and while Boone has shown some promising traits, this season will be one giant learning experience. It’s all new to him.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: 2018 Season Preview, Aaron Boone, Carlos Mendoza, Jason Brown, Josh Bard, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, P.J. Pilittere, Phil Nevin, Reggie Willits

The Coaching Staff’s Last Ride [2017 Season Review]

December 18, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Thomson & Tony. (Presswire)
Thomson & Tony. (Presswire)

Our season review series has reached the point where it is time to do the impossible: evaluate coaches. No one has come up with a good way to do it, at least from the outside. For the most part we just project player performance onto coaches. Leo Mazzone was a genius pitching coach when he had Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz. When he had Rodrigo Lopez, Kris Benson, and Daniel Cabrera? Not so much.

The 2017 season was the last season for this coaching staff as a unit. The Yankees parted ways with manager Joe Girardi after the season and they broke up the coaching staff as well. Most of it, anyway. New manager Aaron Boone will inherit at least one coach and possible more. Let’s try to review the season that was with the coaching staff.

Bench Coach: Rob Thomson

The 2017 season was Thomson’s 28th with the Yankees. He joined the organization as a minor league coach in 1990 and gradually worked his way up the ladder, holding a variety of coaching and front office positions along the way. This was his fourth season as Girardi’s bench coach (2008, 2015-17) and his tenth on the coaching staff overall. He spent the 2009-14 seasons as the third base coach.

Two things about Thomson’s season stand out to me, one good and one bad. Let’s start with the bad. Why didn’t he push harder for Girardi to challenge the Lonnie Chisenhall hit-by-pitch in ALDS Game Two? Argh. Girardi obviously did not trust Gary Sanchez enough to challenge it, but Thomson is his right-hand man, and a quick little “Joe we really need to challenge this” could’ve done wonders. Alas.

And two, Thomson received unsolicited praise from Girardi and Alex Rodriguez during the postseason. Girardi credited Thomson for his work with the team’s young players — “Rob Thomson, he stays on these guys all the time to make sure they’re in the right place and ready to go,” said Girardi during the ALCS — and A-Rod said something similar during a pregame segment for FOX. They both credited Thomson for working with the kids.

The Yankees did interview Thomson for their managerial opening, though I wonder whether that was something of a token interview, and a sign of respect for all his years in the organization. Thomson said he wanted to remain with the Yankees even if he didn’t get the job, and when he didn’t, he decided to take the Phillies bench coach job. It seems to me the Yankees decided to move on from Thomson, not the other way around.

Pitching Coach: Larry Rothschild

Once again, the Yankees had the most complained about great pitching staff in baseball. And it wasn’t only because of the bullpen. The bullpen was actually pretty shaky the first three months of the season. The rotation was very good overall. To wit:

  • ERA: 3.98 (5th in MLB and 2nd in AL)
  • ERA-: 90 (6th in MLB and 3rd in AL)
  • FIP: 4.18 (7th in MLB and 4th in AL)
  • FIP-:  92 (7th in MLB and 4th in AL)
  • K%: 23.7% (7th in MLB and 4th in AL)
  • BB%: 7.3% (5th in MLB and 3rd in AL)
  • GB%: 48.1% (5th in MLB and 2nd in AL)
  • fWAR: +15.2 (6th in MLB and 3rd in AL)

Luis Severino rebounded from a disaster 2016 season to become an ace in 2017, earning him a third place finish in the Cy Young voting. That happened because he worked with Pedro Martinez in the offseason though. Severino worked with Pedro then avoided Rothschild all season. CC Sabathia’s resurgence continued thanks to the cutter he learned from Andy Pettitte or Mariano Rivera last Spring Training. I dunno, it was probably one of those guys.

Masahiro Tanaka had a rough first half, which was Rothschild’s fault, then rebounded in the second half, because he figured some things out on his own, I assume. Dellin Betances walked a lot of guys this season, something he’s never done before in his career, and that is also Rothschild’s fault. Rothschild also convinced Tyler Clippard that throwing 90 mph fastballs middle-middle is great way to get outs. And remember when Aroldis Chapman credited Rothschild for helping him get over his issues by tweaking his fastball grip? He was crediting Rothschild out of pity.

The Yankees decided to bring Rothschild back next year — he is the only confirmed holdover coach at the moment — which I guess means Severino will have to avoid talking to him and Chapman will have to continue giving him pity credit for things. Looks like we’re in for another year of complaining about a very successful pitching staff.

Hitting Coaches: Alan Cockrell & Marcus Thames

A year ago the Yankees scored 680 runs. This year the Yankees scored 858 runs. They scored their 680th run this year on August 30th, in the 132nd game of the season. That’s pretty great! Of course, it helps to have a full season of Sanchez, for Aaron Judge to become literally the best power-hitting rookie in the history of the universe, for Aaron Hicks to break out, for Didi Gregorius to take another step forward, for Austin Romine to inexplicably hit .314 for a month while Sanchez was on the disabled list, plus a bunch of other things.

The single biggest reason the Yankees improved offensively this year was the change in personnel. A year ago the Yankees gave 1,173 plate appearances to A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, and Brian McCann, who combined to post a .301 OBP and a .380 SLG. Yeesh. Out with the old and in with the new. How much credit do Cockrell and Thames deserve for Sanchez doing what he did, and Judge doing what he did, and Hicks doing what he did? Impossible to say. Surely they had something to do with it. If nothing else, the players made Cockrell and Thames look good. But apparently not good enough to save Cockrell’s job. He is reportedly out with Thames taking over as the full-time hitting coach, though that has not yet been confirmed.

First & Third Base Coaches: Tony Pena & Joe Espada

As first base coach, one of Pena’s jobs involves timing the opposing pitcher to see whether attempting to steal a base makes sense. He literally times the pitcher’s delivery with a stopwatch, does the math with the catcher’s pop time and the runner’s speed, and determines whether running is worth it. I’m not joking. That’s part of what first base coaches do. Some team numbers:

  • SB: 90 (12th in MLB)
  • SB%: 80% (1st in MLB)
  • SB Attempts: 112 (16th in MLB)
  • SB Opportunities: 2,376 (1st in MLB)
  • SB Attempt%: 4.7% (20th in MLB)

The Yankees had the highest stolen base success rate in baseball, but they also ranked 20th in their attempt rate. Does that mean Pena didn’t do his job well because the Yankees should’ve run more? Well, no. Personnel matters, and it’s not just the guy on first base. Why would you send Brett Gardner when Judge and Sanchez are due up? Just let them hit with a man on base. The extra 90 feet isn’t worth the risk with those two dudes at the plate.

As for Espada, the third base coach, the Yankees had 20 runners thrown out at the plate this season, the fifth most in baseball. But! They also had 111 runners score from second on a single, the fifth most in baseball. On one hand, the aggressiveness paid off based on all those runners who did score from second on a single. On the other hand, having 20 runners thrown out at the plate kinda stinks, especially with the offense the Yankees had this year. Holding a runner at third and passing the baton to the next guy is a-okay with me.

Espada and Pena will not be back next season. Well, Espada won’t for sure. I thought he would get a chance to interview for the manager’s job, but that didn’t happen, and he is now the Astros bench coach. Pena? He did not interview for the managerial job and it doesn’t sound like he is coming back. I know Pena is a fan favorite — is it weird a coach is a fan favorite? I think that’s kinda weird — but it really seems like the Yankees are going for wholesale changes with their staff, not one or two tweaks, so Pena is likely out.

Bullpen Coach: Mike Harkey

Harkey really nailed answering the phone and waving his hat whenever a reliever was ready this season. Good response time, great hat-waving form. Knocked it out of the park. Harkey is a Girardi guy — they’ve been friends for a very long time, since they were Double-A batterymates in 1988 — and I figured that meant he would be gone as well, but apparently he will be back as bullpen coach next season. Huh. It hasn’t been announced yet, but multiple reports say so. Rothschild is coming back, Thames and Harkey are reportedly coming back, Thomson and Espada are gone, and Cockrell and Pena figure to be gone. It’s been a good run with that staff. Things will be different going forward.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: 2017 Season Review, Alan Cockrell, Jose Espada, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Aviles, Rob Thomson, Tony Peña

Update: Yankees add Josh Bard, Phil Nevin, and Reggie Willits to coaching staff

December 11, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Bard. (Dodgers Photog Blog)
Bard. (Dodgers Photog Blog)

Monday: Bard will be the bench coach, Phil Nevin will be the third base coach, and Reggie Willits will be the first base coach, Boone told reporters today. Also, George King says Carlos Mendoza will be the infield coach and in uniform for games. It’s likely Marcus Thames will be promoted to hitting coach and Mike Harkey will be retained as bullpen coach as well, says King. The Yankees have not yet officially announced any coaching assignments.

Nevin, 47 in January, has coached and managed throughout the minors in recent years, and has interviewed for several big league managerial jobs as well. He managed the Triple-A Reno Aces (Diamondbacks) from 2014-16 before spending last season as the Giants’ third base coach. Nevin and Boone were high school teammates, so those two have some history. (Nevin went to high school with Bret Boone, not Aaron. My bad.)

Last week we heard the 38-year-old Mendoza and 36-year-old Willits were under consideration for big league coaching jobs. Willits has been the organization’s minor league outfield and baserunning instructor for three years now while Mendoza has held a variety of minor league coaching and managerial roles since 2009, most recently serving as the minor league infield coordinator. Mendoza would give the team a Spanish-speaking coach. The Yankees seem to be going real young with the coaching staff next year, huh?

Sunday: According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees will name former big league catcher Josh Bard their new bench coach. Ken Davidoff says Bard interviewed last week and was impressive. The Yankees have not confirmed anything as of yet, and there’s no word on any of the other coaching staff positions.

Bard, 39, was new manager Aaron Boone’s teammate with the Indians in 2005. He spent the last five seasons in a variety of roles with the Dodgers, going from special assistant (2013) to scout (2014-15) to bullpen coach (2016-17). I suppose it’s possible, if not likely, Bard will take over catching instructor duties with the Yankees.

Last week both Boone and Brian Cashman said they weren’t necessarily looking for a bench coach with managerial experience despite Boone’s inexperience. They want who they believe is the right person rather than the most experienced person. Bard has some coaching and front office experience, but not much.

Bard will join holdover pitching coaching Larry Rothschild on the coaching staff. Boone still needs a hitting coach (and likely an assistant hitting coach), first and third base coaches, and a bullpen coach. Cashman admitted the coaching search could take weeks.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: Carlos Mendoza, Josh Bard, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, Phil Nevin, Reggie Willits

Yanks have yet to offer Cashman, Girardi, Denbo, or coaching staff contract extensions

September 13, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

(Brian Blanco/Getty)
(Brian Blanco/Getty)

Not much of a surprise here, but according to George King, the Yankees have yet to make contract extension offers to their front office and coaching staffs. General manager Brian Cashman, vice president of player development Gary Denbo, vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring, manager Joe Girardi, and the entire coaching staff are unsigned beyond this season. I’m sure a bunch of others too.

The Yankees have, historically, waited until contracts expire before negotiating new deals. That used to apply to players as well, though the team came to their senses with that a few years ago and are now at least open to the idea of extending a player before free agency. The last few times Cashman and Girardi have been up for new deals, they became free agents and then worked out new contracts.

Denbo, who has helped turn the farm system into a player development machine, is reportedly under consideration for a position with the Marlins. He and Derek Jeter are very close — Denbo managed Jeter in the minors back in the day and was his big league hitting coach in 2001 — and it makes sense that Jeter would look to bring in someone he knows and trusts to run the team he’s about to purchase.

There were rumors circulating last month that the Yankees offered Denbo a big five-year contract extension — five-year contracts are pretty rare in the front office world, from what I understand — though King says that is not the case. The Yankees haven’t made him or anyone else an offer. Interestingly enough, Jeter’s purchase of the Marlins may take a while as the league reviews financial information. From Charlie Gasparino and Brian Schwartz:

“The owners told (Bruce) Sherman that the Jeter bid will get what amounts to a proctology exam,” said one baseball executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity and has direct knowledge of the owners meeting. “And they indicated that exam could take a long time.”

Front office and coaching staff contracts typically expire October 31st or at the end of the World Series. If the Marlins sale takes a while, it could give the Yankees a leg up on re-signing Denbo, who I can’t imagine will want to wait around for the Marlins sale to go final and leave his future uncertain. The Yankees could lock him up before Jeter fully controls the Marlins, which doesn’t sound imminent.

Of course, the Marlins could always approach the Yankees about Denbo after the sale goes final. Teams interview personnel under contract with other teams all the time. With permission, of course. The Yankees could deny that permission — they denied the Diamondbacks permission to interview scouting director Damon Oppenheimer back in 2010 — though most teams don’t when it involves a big upward promotion. Denbo could always push for having permission to interview elsewhere put into his contract. We’ll see.

For now, neither Denbo nor Cashman nor Girardi nor anyone on the coaching staff is under contract beyond this season. No one has a contract offer in hand either. I wonder if this will lead to some coaching staff changes? I guess it depends on Girardi. If he returns, which I think is likely, chances are his coaching staff will remain mostly intact. If Girardi leaves, all bets are off.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff, Front Office Tagged With: Alan Cockrell, Brian Cashman, Gary Denbo, Joe Espada, Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, Rob Thomson, Tim Naehring, Tony Peña

Joe Girardi and the coaching staff [2017 Season Preview]

March 28, 2017 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

New year, same coaching staff. For the first time in a little while, the Yankees didn’t tinker with the staff surrounding Joe Girardi and will go into their second straight season with the same coaches.

That means Larry Rothschild is still the pitching coach, Alan Cockrell and Marcus Thames handle the hitters, Mike Harkey is the bullpen coach, Tony Pena and Joe Espada man the bases and Rob Thomson returns as the bench coach.

This doesn’t mean the job will be easy for these guys just because they remain in their roles. Each of them may have their most challenging job yet with the Yankees promoting their youth throughout the roster.

Joe Girardi

Girardi is entering his 10th season as the Yankees manager. Only two managers — Mike Scioscia with the Angels and Bruce Bochy of the Giants — have been in their current jobs longer than Girardi, who was hired in October of 2007. Stability hasn’t always been a trademark for Yankees’ coaches, but this is the second straight manager to last at least a decade. Not bad.

This is a contract year for Girardi: his four-year deal ends after the season. As in past years, the team isn’t going to extend him early, which will lead to plenty of speculation that the Yankees will move on at manager. That seems unlikely: the Steinbrenners appear to be happy with Girardi’s performance thus far and that’s for good reason. Girardi has been solid as manager. Still, that storyline will play out this season, especially if the team gets out of the gates slow.

In his 10th season, Girardi has perhaps his toughest days ahead of him. In the past, he’s been surrounded by veteran players who know the “Yankee way” and can indoctrinate the few young players moving onto the roster. But now Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann are all gone in one fell swoop. The Baby Bomber movement has taken over with plenty of rookies, or at least inexperienced, players taking key spots on the roster. Girardi’s main job is making sure that all gels in the clubhouse.

He has some veteran help with Matt Holliday’s addition or the continued presence of guys like Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and co., but it’s still a challenge. For Girardi (and I guess Thomson), making sure inexperience doesn’t topple this team will be paramount to success. The one positive of having a younger roster is a lot less rest needed all around. Starlin Castro, for example, has played 151 games or more in five of the last six seasons. Fewer achy vets like A-Rod and Tex means more days with the team’s optimal lineup, whatever that may be.

Another change to the job will be instant replay. MLB has mandated that teams are quicker in requesting replays this season, so there will be less of the manager holding up play while the team’s replay people check it out. The Yankees’ guy, Brett Weber,  will have a tougher job this year (NY Times profiled him last year) and the team may need Girardi to go with his gut on challenges. The Yankees were the second-best team at getting calls overturned percentage-wise last year (Royals), but they also requested the fewest challenges (just 28). Maybe Girardi takes more chances with it and risks being quite as efficient in 2017.

Finally, Girardi’s job comes down to the bullpen. He once again has a strong back-end with Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances. I expect Chapman will have the 9th, Betances usually just the 8th and Tyler Clippard and Adam Warren would then be dispensed for the middle innings along with maybe Ernesto Frieri? Don’t forget Tommy Layne as a LOOGY! Girardi loves to get the platoon advantage.

And that’s not a knock on Girardi. His bullpen management is his best trait and is likely why the Yankees consistently outperform their Pythagorean record. He both has strong relievers to utilize and then actually utilizes them well. I don’t expect anything different in 2017.

Hitting, hitting and more hitting

Cockrell and Thames return, but many of their disciples do not. The two have been handed some interesting projects this season. They won’t have to worry too much about the veterans like Matt Holliday. Instead, they’ll have to work with 6-foot-7 rookie Aaron Judge to keep his strikeouts down or with Greg Bird and Gary Sanchez to make sure their rookie performances aren’t just mirages.

It’s tough to ever pinpoint exactly where a hitting coach makes his mark — best example for the Yanks in recent memory is Kevin Long working to correct Curtis Granderson’s swing in the summer of 2010 — but any breakouts this year could come from Cockrell and Thames’ tutelage. Let’s hope they can make plenty happen.

Handling the pitching

(Getty Images)
Rothschild and Tanaka (Getty Images)

This season will be Rothschild’s seventh with the Yankees. Wow, feels like it’s been fewer but then you remember him working with big Bart in 2011 and others in the early 2010s. For the most part, Rothschild doesn’t have a new pitcher to work with this season. There are three veterans returning to the rotation, most of the bullpen was there at some point last season and even the guys fighting for the last rotation spot have big league experience (except Jordan Montgomery).

Rothschild will be judged on his ability to coax some solid seasons out of those back-end starters. Whether it’s Bryan Mitchell and Luis Severino or Chad Green and Montgomery, there’s a lot of work ahead for the Yankees’ pitching guru. Rothschild has been known to get pitchers to increase strikeout totals, but getting a guy like Severino or Mitchell to improve their command will be much tougher. It isn’t even necessarily on Rothschild if they fail. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes with young pitchers.

And the rest

What can you really say about the rest of the staff? If you have a hard time accessing the performances of the hitting and pitching coaches, it’s even tougher with the bench or bullpen coach. Harkey begins the second season of his second stint with the Yankees. Seems like he never left for the desert, eh?

Meanwhile, Thomson has been with the Yankees since Girardi came aboard and has been the bench coach in two stints sandwiched around his time as the third-base coach. The bench coach seems like both another person for the manager to bounce ideas off of and another voice to work with the 25 personalities populating the Yankees’ clubhouse. Either way, Thomson has been solid enough in his role to stick around for 10 years.

Tony Pena has been here even longer. This will be his 12th season as a Yankees coach, now the first base coach after fulfilling other roles under Girardi and Joe Torre. Pena seemed to do a solid job as the Dominican Republic’s manager during the WBC and one has to wonder if he’ll be in consideration for another managerial gig (previously with the Royals) in the near future. Pena has a new full-time guy in Sanchez to work with behind the plate, which surely has him excited.

And then there’s Espada. He’s been perfectly fine as the third base coach. Like anyone in that position, he gets a ton of notice when he makes a bad send but otherwise has been left alone. He served a similar role for Puerto Rico at the WBC. If anything has changed for him, it’s that there are fewer base-clogging veterans like McCann or Teixeira and maybe a little more speed in the Yankees’ everyday lineup. Not much, but some. May be to Espada’s advantage in sending runners.

Filed Under: Coaching Staff Tagged With: 2017 Season Preview, Alan Cockrell, Joe Espada, Joe Girardi, Larry Rothschild, Marcus Thames, Mike Harkey, Rob Thomson, Tony Peña

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