Maybe it’s that Honeymoon glow. Maybe it’s the fact that his name is not Trey Hillman. Maybe it’s the incredible restraint it must take the man to not grow a moustache. (He would totally look awesome with a moustache) Whatever it is, spending the weekend with Ned Yost has led to me completely and totally trusting the man. He’s the anti-Trey.
I was down in KC over the last weekend, and was therefore privy to 1.) actually watching the Royals, and 2.) getting first-hand accounts and analysis of Yost’s first series on the job from a number of respected talking-heads not named Jason Whitlock.
Trey Hillman is behind us, and I will be happy if I never utter his name again, so we don’t need to re-hash the idiocy of some of his moves. With Yost, you get the feeling that he’s not a reactionary type. He knows his players. He knows how to get the best out of them. He knows what to do in various baseball situations. Of course, these are the very basic characteristics that you want in a major league manager. And these are the characteristics that the previous Skip was lacking. The fact that Yost is at least competent already puts him light years ahead of Trey.
Also, Dave Owen…grrrrr
Yost isn’t without flaws. He got canned by the Brewers with 12 games left in the 2008 season while his team was in the middle of a pennant race. Which is odd. There were circumstances surrounding the firing that aren’t entirely known, but the fact is it happened. The reasons why are a little less than black-and-white, but he was the leader of a team that won 65 games the season before he got there, and made the playoffs six years later.
Of course, you don’t want to heap the credit strictly on him. You have Prince Fielder, JJ Hardy and Ryan Braun to thank for that. But, you do have to give Yost credit for this: he didn’t mess it up. Now, getting fired 12 games from the finish line might lead you to believe otherwise, but Dave Sevum (his replacement) only went 7-5 down the stretch. A lot has been said about that team being in a 3-11 slump before his firing, but prior to that stretch, the Brewers went 8-1. His firing seemed like a panic move, and all those who have analyzed it since tend to lean that way too.
But being Not Trey Hillman aside, there are three things that Yost did or said during the weekend that made me like and trust him. Here they are:
1.) Some of the critique of Yost prior to his being shown the door in Milwaukee surrounded his almost absolute refusal to use the sacrifice bunt as an offensive weapon. In the NL, with the pitcher batting 9th, it is generally assumed that the sac bunt in necessary and integral to success. However, Sabermetric research has shown that is it an absolute rally-killing croc. And Yost seems to agree. Martin Manley does a nice job of pointing this out by using numbers that frighten and confuse me…but still generally point me in the direction that Hillman was a quack, and Yost knows what the heck he’s doing.
2.) Much has been written about Luke Hochevar and his maddening inconsistency. He’s been good, and incomprehensibly bad, and a lot of it might have to do with his inability to keep his head on straight when things start to trend downward. Case-in-point: Saturday Night. Going into the 7th inning, with a three run lead, Hoch looked visibly shaken when the Alexi Ramirez got an infield single with one out on a ball that a shortstop with even average range (i.e. not named Yuniesky Betancourt) would have gotten to. He ended up losing control and giving up four runs, the lead and the game.
So what did Yost have to say after the game? Did he second-guess himself about not going to the bullpen earlier? Did he throw Yuni under the bus for not getting to an easily field-able ball? No. He said that was part of the plan; that Hoch needs to learn how to pitch himself out of jams. Wow. What a breath of fresh air. This is similar to Gil Meche coming back to the dugout after throwing 100+ in six the night before, and signaling to Yost for one more inning. Yost said no. He went to the pen, saved further wear on Meche’s shoulder, and got W.
If he doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, at least he’s honest with how he does it, and that inspires confidence; something that is sorely lacking in this organization.
3.) The handling of Kila Monster getting sent back down again today. Yost knows his team, and the limitations surrounding it. And I’m speaking here of Ka’ahuie’s inability to make it on the field during his most recent stint on the big club. Instead of talking in vague overtones about the competitiveness of his need for more seasoned instruction, Yost plainly stated that with Jose Guillen and Big Stroker entrenched at DH and 1B, there simply enough at-bats to go ‘round. “It just kills me to see Kila sitting on the bench and not playing,” said Yost, “I think he’s a huge part of our future, and for me I’d much rather have him down there right now, getting his at-bats, playing first base and if something happened he could come back here.”
By acknowledging things which any educated Royals fan most certainly already knows, instead of dismissing it outright in some attempt to prove his legitimacy as a manager, Yost effectively justified his decision, however unpopular amongst the populous.
I for one am excited for having Yost in a Royals uniform. I know that we’re not going to be competitive for a while with the talent we have on the team, but you know what? So does Ned Yost. And that’s more than I can say for…what’s his name? Traysomething? I’ve already forgotten.
Thank God.