Endangered species: Chuck Hernandez?
posted in 2008 season |Well, someone has to pay for the lack of pitching in Tiger Town. Popular finger pointing, however, goes past the teflon leader Jim Leyland and, rather, to one of his coaches: pitching coach Chuck Hernandez. Which, you know, isn’t real fair in my mind.
I understand why the idea comes up. For one, this guy’s looking for a job and has a proven track record doing Hernandez’ job. So why note flip the two, right? For two, the Tigers’ pitching staff is letting the team down. Especially the young starters. So someone has to be to blame, right? And, I mean, no one saw this coming, did they?
It would be great if it was that easy. I mean it. It really would. Because right now. we’re all looking for solutions to turn the Tigers around, and I’m sure Mike Illitch, Dave Dombrowski and Jim Leyland are trying to figure it out, as well. But the answers aren’t that easy.
But, like all coaching positions in baseball, I think a little too much praise goes to the pitching coach when his staff does something good, and too much criticism goes toward the same coach when his staff does something bad. I mean, did Hernandez really forget how to coach between that magical year of 2006 and the dismal start to 2008? Or are guys who suffered through injuries after pitching during the magical 2006 season continuing to pay the piper this year? We can’t say for sure. After all, who but Justin Verlander should best know the health of Justin Verlander? On the other hand, can we believe what he says? I guess that’s a decision you have to make for yourself. But the fact of the matter is, there’s no reason to believe that Hernandez is the cause of the suddenly dismal play.
I think firing him now would be making him the scapegoat and probably not result in any better performances from the pitchers.
Sphere It
Don’t you think though that it can be a mental thing. Maybe just by showing someone (Hernandez) the door they can shake things up. Mazzone’s reputation would carry some weight I’m sure with the pitching staff. It’s possible that just by adding him to the club they’ll have a bit more confidence. I don’t know. I’d just like to see something happen here after all of this losing.
I think this has more to do with injuries than the pitching coach. Plus, I think fans (and columnists) seem to forget these are actual real human beings we’re dealing with. Firing a guy because you think a shakeup might help seems pretty weak to me, especially given he previous two years on the job. I think we’ve all got to take hiring and firing more serious.
I agree that there is no reason to make a quick move on the pitching coach. But the question does come to mind: How do you judge the effectiveness of the pitching coach? Wins? ERA? WHIP? Player improvement?
Its too early to judge the coaches — we’re not firing the hitting coach because Miguel Cabrera is hitting .250. Maybe a better answer is to hold the players accountable for their play and their contracts — maybe a bullpen stint is calling.
I don’t think it’s fair to judge Hernandez by this year alone. But, it’s fair to say that over time, he hasn’t gotten the hoped for results. Bondo should be better than he is (what happened to co-ace?). Verlander hasn’t fulfilled his potential. Do we really want to say that about Porcello too? Mazzone is as good as it gets. If you have the potential to get one of the best pitching coaches ever, why wouldn’t you.