Thoughts on Rickie (and a potential replacement) from Sox Machine this morning

[chitownsportsfan]

The bunt last night was awful and so was the IBB, here's how Jim put it:

Monday’s game was the latest example of Renteria’s bunting proclivity getting the best of him. He called a suicide squeeze for Yolmer Sanchez with the runners on the corners and one out while trailing by one. Sanchez couldn’t bunt fair on a pitch out of the zone, he ended up striking out, and the Orioles closed it out two batters later.

It’s been a while since individual game results felt relevant enough — and since so many weird decisions were made — that most of the recap was spent dissecting them. It’s fair to revisit them with the manager’s reasoning in mind, even if Renteria made too many questionable calls to get asked about every single one.

He did cover a few of them, though. Here’s his rationale for the bunt:

 

“I actually thought, to be honest, ‘I’d like to get this run across the board. I’d like to tie this ballgame and keep us going,'” manager Rick Renteria said. “Obviously, we didn’t get it across. We’ve had a tough time, in moments, getting a run across with a runner on third.”

And here’s his rationale for issuing an intentional walk to Manny Machado with nobody on and one out:

 

“We wanted to make sure that he didn’t quick-point us again,” Renteria said. “It was that simple. Another run, another chance to hit a ball out of the ballpark. He’s been squaring up the ball pretty good.”

 

And a little tidbit on Joe Girardi:

The ChiSox continue not to look great from a fundamental standpoint, though the belief is that they will stay with Rick Renteria, at least for now. For the future, one name to keep an eye on could be Joe Girardi, the former Cubs catcher and Peoria. Ill. native. Girardi’s currently working as an analyst at MLB Network, and waiting for another managerial opportunity.

[bmags]

I've been mostly patient but last night really broke my back.

I don't like in anything when managers or people in charge meddle just for the appearance of being productive.

The suicide squeeze was to appear proactive when really it just placed the hitter in the box in a worse position.

Just let your players play, stop distracting them in the box with low-success plays. Baseballs hard enough.

How many suicide squeeze's have they successfully performed this year? 0? 

[bmags]

There is an inverse relationship to how often Heyman writes on a subject to how credibly close it is to occurring.

[chitownsportsfan]

Yea the speculation is just speculation but as a topic of conversation -- I'd be all in on Girardi for next manager.    GOOD GOD HOW DO I GET OUT OF THE RICH TEXT BOX.

Quote

The suicide squeeze was to appear proactive when really it just placed the hitter in the box in a worse position. [/quote]

 

Agree.  Yolmer is a good contact hitter.  Let him try and place one out there or god forbid maybe he'd get a hit.   There are very few times a suicide makes sense and last night was not one of those times.  I could see things a bit differently if it was game 7 of the World Series and an ace closer is out there throwing 98 in a one run game.

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by chitownsportsfan

[Dick Allen]

I really don't mind him walking Machado, He has a .420 OBP, so there is a good chance he might get on anyway and farther along than first base, but the bunt was beyond ridiculous. The pitcher is getting killed by LH hitting. Over .900 OPS. Puts him in a hole, and he gone, and then you leave it up to Trayce Thompson. 

 

Edited May 22, 2018 by Dick Allen

[chitownsportsfan]

1 minute ago, Dick Allen said:

I really don't mind him walking Machado, He has a .420 OBP, so there is a good chance he might get on anyway and farther along than first base, but the bunt was beyond ridiculous. The pitcher is getting killed by LH hitting. Over .900 OPS. Puts him in a hole, and he gone. 

Yea exactly.  Asking Yolmer to get a hit or put the ball in play somewhere to drive in a run was not like climbing Everest here.   The suicide squeeze should be reserved for much more daunting odds.

[pcq]

Bunting + Team Spirit + Hustle + TWTW = SUCCESS!!

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, chitownsportsfan said:

The bunt last night was awful and so was the IBB, here's how Jim put it:

Monday’s game was the latest example of Renteria’s bunting proclivity getting the best of him. He called a suicide squeeze for Yolmer Sanchez with the runners on the corners and one out while trailing by one. Sanchez couldn’t bunt fair on a pitch out of the zone, he ended up striking out, and the Orioles closed it out two batters later.

It’s been a while since individual game results felt relevant enough — and since so many weird decisions were made — that most of the recap was spent dissecting them. It’s fair to revisit them with the manager’s reasoning in mind, even if Renteria made too many questionable calls to get asked about every single one.

He did cover a few of them, though. Here’s his rationale for the bunt:

 

“I actually thought, to be honest, ‘I’d like to get this run across the board. I’d like to tie this ballgame and keep us going,'” manager Rick Renteria said. “Obviously, we didn’t get it across. We’ve had a tough time, in moments, getting a run across with a runner on third.”

And here’s his rationale for issuing an intentional walk to Manny Machado with nobody on and one out:

 

“We wanted to make sure that he didn’t quick-point us again,” Renteria said. “It was that simple. Another run, another chance to hit a ball out of the ballpark. He’s been squaring up the ball pretty good.”

 

And a little tidbit on Joe Girardi:

 

That is it on the Girardi quote?  That has nothing about the Sox being interested. 

[Thad Bosley]

Is it "Renteria's" bunting proclivity, or is it part of the organization's overall offense philosophy?  This is the second year now that Ricky has been inundating us with all of this bunting. so obviously no one in the front office is telling him to cease and desist with the approach.  

[lasttriptotulsa]

Wasn't one of the biggest knocks on Girardi when he left the Yankees that he wasn't good with young players. That would make him terrible for a rebuild.

[Kyyle23]

15 minutes ago, Fan O'Faust said:

Is it "Renteria's" bunting proclivity, or is it part of the organization's overall offense philosophy?  This is the second year now that Ricky has been inundating us with all of this bunting. so obviously no one in the front office is telling him to cease and desist with the approach.  

Come on, the FO aren’t telling him to bunt more.  This is the same shit that got him run out of the cubs 

[Sockin]

I've felt like Renteria is a product of the White Sox marketing/front office's belief that the general White Sox fan base cares more about "small ball" than anything else. He talks about fundamentals and the "little things" way more than any other manager I feel like. They keep trying to get the point across that these guys are "grinders."

Edited May 22, 2018 by Sockin

[Superstar Lamar]

JR refuses to negotiate with agents when hiring managerial talent which limits the available pool for the Sox.

I suspect the next Sox manager will be someone currently in their minor leagues.

[Dick Allen]

1 minute ago, Superstar Lamar said:

JR refuses to negotiate with agents when hiring managerial talent which limits the available pool for the Sox.

I suspect the next Sox manager will be someone currently in their minor leagues.

I would think McEwing is still on top of the list. You are correct. Hahn did say that if Cooper ever had to retire because of age or health, Hassler would be the pitching coach. I'm sure it's the same all around. They all mention McEwing as manager material. 

[bmags]

25 minutes ago, lasttriptotulsa said:

Wasn't one of the biggest knocks on Girardi when he left the Yankees that he wasn't good with young players. That would make him terrible for a rebuild.

This seems to be at odds to me with the fact that some of his best teams had really young players.

[chitownsportsfan]

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

This seems to be at odds to me with the fact that some of his best teams had really young players.

I believe the origin of that thought were his comments about Sanchez and how he was "lazy" at times behind the plate.  Obviously the youthful Yanks preformed well under him, including Sanchez.

I'd be thrilled with Joe as manager.  He's a bit old school in his tactics but he's so solid everywhere else.

[bmags]

1 minute ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I believe the origin of that thought were his comments about Sanchez and how he was "lazy" at times behind the plate.  Obviously the youthful Yanks preformed well under him, including Sanchez.

I'd be thrilled with Joe as manager.  He's a bit old school in his tactics but he's so solid everywhere else.

Yeah, I just really thought the firing of Baker and Joe last year were dumb. But, there's also a clear trend toward just getting a players manager that will follow orders from the analysts/front office, so I'm not that crazy about going to some grizzled manager.

[southsider2k5]

40 minutes ago, Tony said:

Again, this all came from Heyman on 670 yesterday, and he went out of his way to say "This isn't something coming from the Sox or Girardi, this is simply my idea of a fit." 

It's actually not Heyman's fault, it's meatballs saying "Oh well I heard Joe Girardi is coming to the Sox anyway" after they "listened" to Heyman. 

Glad to hear it, as I saw it mentioned a couple of times in the game thread last night and wondered what it was all tracing back to.  Pure speculation, but no substance.

[ChiSox59]

12 minutes ago, Superstar Lamar said:

JR refuses to negotiate with agents when hiring managerial talent which limits the available pool for the Sox.

I suspect the next Sox manager will be someone currently in their minor leagues.

Omar Vizquel would be pretty cool.

Rick seems like a great guy and someone I wouldn't mind having around as bench coach, but I hope the Sox upgrade when they're ready to compete. 

[southsider2k5]

2 hours ago, Tony said:

I went back and listened to the Heyman interview on 670 and it was PURE speculation from Heyman that the Sox and/or Girardi have any interest in each other. 

 

With that said, if the Sox want to follow the same blueprint the Cubs did with their rebuild............?

Tampering with a teams manager?  Oh.

[Southwest Sider]

That bunt was just an awful decision, even if it would have worked. The potential for disaster with that bunt is too real, and the worst case scenario indeed played out. Yolmer bunted at ball 1. Yolmer couldn't dig himself out of the 0-2 hole. Abreu got walked, and then it was left to one of our worst hitters. The fans last night deserved better, they deserved to see their team go down swinging instead of giving pitches away. 

I've gone from neutral on Rick, to now not a very big fan. 

All I ask from Rick now is get these kids playing hard, playing the right way, and striving for the W every day. At that point hopefully we will have found a new manager. 

[Thad Bosley]

33 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

Come on, the FO aren’t telling him to bunt more.  This is the same shit that got him run out of the cubs 

Well, they're certainly not asking him to bunt less, but if they are, they clearly have one insubordinate employee on their hands.   

[soxguy456]

all aboard the Omar Vizquel train

[reiks12]

I didnt like benching Castillo last night either, it sends a message but it might have cost us a win

[Eminor3rd]

2 hours ago, Dick Allen said:

I really don't mind him walking Machado, He has a .420 OBP, so there is a good chance he might get on anyway and farther along than first base, but the bunt was beyond ridiculous. The pitcher is getting killed by LH hitting. Over .900 OPS. Puts him in a hole, and he gone, and then you leave it up to Trayce Thompson. 

 

I honestly didn't mind it either -- Machado is so much better than literally every other hitter in that lineup right now, it very well may have been playing the percentages correctly. It's like when Bonds got IBB'd like 200 times that one year because the entire rest of the lineup was garbage. When every matchup is a good one except one, why not avoid that matchup?