La Russa’s managerial woes continue to mount
Talent is the ultimate deciding factor in winning baseball games. If you don’t have good players, most of the time you’re not going to win.
It’s the manager’s job to put those players in the right position to succeed.
Today’s question is: How many extra wins will a good manager give a team over one with a bad manager? It’s almost impossible to answer, especially with the increasing emphasis many teams’ front offices place on analytics that end up taking some decisions out of their managers’ hands.
However ... we might get a more definitive answer this season than any in recent memory thanks to the Chicago White Sox. When 76-year-old Tony La Russa was named manager of the White Sox this winter after spending the last decade as an executive and consultant, it raised questions about whether the game had passed him by.
So far this season, those questions remain pertinent. After an April 27 game, La Russa admitted being unaware starting pitcher Lucas Giolito was tiring in the late innings and leaving him in the game too long. In another game, he chose not to pinch-hit for light-hitting Billy Hamilton, trailing by three runs with two on and two out because he “was looking for a single.”
Then came Wednesday afternoon’s game in Cincinnati.
In a National League park with the game tied 0-0 in the ninth, La Russa double-switched closer Liam Hendriks in place of left fielder Andrew Vaughn, who made the last out in the top of the inning. When the White Sox came to bat in the top of the 10th, Vaughn’s lineup spot was the designated runner to be placed at second base. So La Russa sent Hendriks out as the potential goahead run.
Under MLB’s new extra-innings rule, if the pitcher’s spot is due start the inning at second base, a manager can instead choose “the player preceding the pitcher in the batting order.”
La Russa was unaware of the rule. When asked about it by a reporter, he responded, “I’m guessing you know the rules better. Now I know.”
Even with the loss, the White Sox have a 16-13 record, the best run differential in the American League and are just a half-game out of first place in the Central division. But it’s hard not to wonder how far ahead they could be with someone other than La Russa calling the shots in the dugout.