New York Yankees: Three Options for pitching coach
The New York Yankees ushered in a new era at pitching coach with the firing of Larry Rothschild. Where do they go from here?
After manning the helm since 2011, the New York Yankees will have a new pitching coach. The club decided to let Larry Rothschild go on Monday after the New York Yankees had a rocky year on the mound.
The club struggled with their starting pitching for most of the season. Luis Severino being injured didn’t help and neither did Domingo German‘s domestic violence suspension, but J.A. Happ wasn’t the same after the club acquired him in 2018. James Paxton had his struggles, especially in the first inning. At one point, even Chad Green had to go down to AAA to get himself fixed.
The New York Yankees let go of most of their pitching coaches up and down the system. In fact, they only kept the pitching coach from AAA (more on that later). Back in June, the club hired Sam Briend, who was running Driveline, to be their director of pitching. It’s clear that a club that heavily values analytics is going even deeper into that with Briend being a part of the organization, considering what Driveline can do for pitchers based on the techniques and training that they use there.
To be a pitching coach in 2019, you have to have an understanding of the analytics. Rothschild clearly had to have an understanding of it and then had to combine that with the knowledge he already had. Part coach, part psychiatrist. That’s what coaching is in 2019.
Sometimes, it may help just to have a new voice in the room. Rothschild had been there for so long that maybe a change will be good for everyone involved. So where do the New York Yankees go from here for their next pitching coach? Here are three potential candidates.
David Cone
If you have watched New York Yankees games over the past few years, or even some Fox national TV games, chances are you have heard David Cone give his analysis and thoughts on baseball. Cone certainly has the pitching pedigree, being a five-time All-Star, a Cy Young Award winner, a five-time World Champion, and someone who could be trusted in a big spot.
He’s also one of the more analytical announcers that are covering the game today. He always gives nuggets about things like spin rate, which are so crucial to understanding pitching in this day and age of baseball.
Cone threw his hat into the ring for manager of the New York Mets earlier this month after they made a change, so it’s certainly possible he wants into coaching. Does he have coaching experience? No, but Aaron Boone didn’t either and that hasn’t hurt the club over the past two seasons. Just because someone hasn’t done something before, doesn’t mean they won’t be any good it. Sometimes, all they need is chance, and with Cone’s experience in the game, he should be able to use that to his advantage.
Tommy Phelps
Earlier in this space, I talked about the New York Yankees gutted their minor league pitching coaching. Their lone holdover was Phelps, who is currently the pitching coach for in AAA. If you look at the numbers for Scranton last season, they aren’t the best, however, so many pitchers rode the Scranton shuttle between there and the Bronx, that he should get a little bit of a pass. It’s hard to get consistency when you don’t know who is going to be there from day to day. In his other three seasons as pitching coach, the club finished first in ERA twice.
Phelps was a major part of getting Chad Green back on track this season. The New York Yankees may not have made the ALCS without getting him right out of their bullpen, especially with all of the injuries leading up to the postseason.
The New York Yankees have had some success in developing pitching in recent years, especially in the bullpen, and Phelps has certainly played a part in that. That success could certainly translate at the big league level, with Phelps at the helm of the pitching staff.
Mike Harkey
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Over the past few seasons, the strength of the New York Yankees pitching staff has been their bullpen. Mike Harkey has been the bullpen coach since 2016 and certainly has something to do with helping the relievers be as successful as they have been. You may not think a bullpen coach does as much as a pitching coach, but the bullpen coach certainly has their hand in preparing relievers as they come in with scouting reports and going over situations.
If you listen to the R2C2 podcast with CC Sabathia and Ryan Ruocco, you can tell how popular and respected Harkey is with the players. That kind of rapport with the players can certainly go a long way. If you can connect with the person, the rest could fall into place. That’s part of what led the club to look at Aaron Boone, to begin with.
If I had to handicap this race between the three of them, I’m not sure where the New York Yankees would go. However, they’ve had success with multiple hitting coaches, as many teams have in this day and age. What about multiple coaches? What if, for example, Harkey is the pitching coach, Cone is the assistant pitching coach with Phelps taking over in the bullpen? Or, leave Harkey where is and bring in Phelps and Cone?
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The New York Yankees have an important choice to make as pitching coach. I would assume all three of these men are candidates and more we haven’t heard about quite yet. This will be an interesting story, in what could be a very active off-season in the Bronx.