Dodgers Dugout: The best manager in the NL West is ...
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. Pull up a chair, everybody, wherever you may be. The season is about to start.
Comparing the teams
Time for the manager and the bench as we end the series of comparing NL West teams.
Manager
How do we rank managers? A lot of the important things they do are invisible. It’s not just the moves they make that we see, but the moves they don’t make. The way they manage the clubhouse, how they deal with the long season and with keeping players fresh for the stretch run. There are a few statistics about managers we can look at, but the main one we will use here is Pythagorean +/-. Basically, you can estimate the final record for a team based on the number of runs scored and the number of runs allowed. So, if a team should finish with a 90-72 record based on their runs scored and allowed, and they finish with a 95-67, then the manager gets a 5. Good managers usually find a way to have a better record than estimated; bad managers usually have a worse. The entire formula can be found here.
1. Bruce Bochy, San Francisco
Pythagorean +/-: -4 (2016), +3 (career with Giants)
All Bochy has done is win three World Series with the Giants. He often seems to be a step ahead of everyone.
2. Dave Roberts, Dodgers
Pythagorean +/-: 0
Roberts made a handful of strange decisions the first couple of months of 2016, but really seemed to grow into the role as the season went on. He also seems to have the full support of the players.
3. Bud Black, Colorado
Pythagorean +/-: First season with Colorado, +4 (career)
Named NL Manager of the Year with San Diego in 2010. If anyone can fix the Rockies’ pitching, it is Black, who tutored under Mike Scioscia with the Angels for years.
4. Andy Green, San Diego
Pythagorean +/-: -4 (2016, his first year as a manager)
Poor Andy Green. He finally gets a chance to manage and it has to be with the Padres, who are in the midst of rebuilding. Many are predicting the Padres to lose at least 100 games this season. It won’t be Green’s fault.
5. Torey Lovullo, Arizona
Pythagorean +/-: -2 (47 games with Boston in 2015).
Lovullo could be ranked fourth and Green fifth, but I figure that the Padres have finished last so many times in these rankings, they deserve a break.
Bench
1. San Francisco
Conor Gillaspie, Eduardo Nunez, Mac Williamson, what do these three and the rest of the Giants bench have in common? They seem ready to contribute all the time. A starter goes down, someone steps in seamlessly. They are ready to pinch-hit when needed. This is probably a tribute to Bochy, because the players on the Giants bench may change from year to year, but their readiness never changes.
2. Arizona
The Diamondbacks have some good guys on their bench, who will be able to contribute if needed. But if any of them are called on to start for an extended length of time, that’s bad news for the Diamondbacks.
3. Dodgers
I am not enamored with the Dodgers’ bench. I like Chase Utley, but Enrique Hernandez has to prove himself after a horrible 2016, Austin Barnes hasn’t proved to be better than A.J. Ellis was (except Barnes can play multiple positions), and Scott Van Slyke doesn’t strike fear in anyone’s heart.
4. San Diego
How bad are the Padres going to be? They are thinking of letting backup catcher Christian Bethancourt pitch some too. The Padres will be calling up and sending down a lot of players this season. Program sales should be brisk.
5. Colorado
The Rockies have guys such as Christian Adames, Mark Reynolds (who will actually start at first for a while, thanks to Ian Desmond’s broken hand) and a bunch of other players who are either past their prime or haven’t entered it yet.
That’s a look at the manager and bench categories. If we assign points based on where a player ranks at each position, giving seven points for first place, five for second, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth, then the NL West stacks up like this as far as manager and bench go:
San Francisco, 14 points
Dodgers, 8 points
Arizona, 6 points
San Diego, 4 points
Colorado, 4 points
The final total after 16 categories:
Dodgers, 84 points
San Francisco, 71 points
Colorado, 57 points
Arizona, 47 points
San Diego, 29 points
On Monday, in the opening day newsletter, I will tell you who is going to win the NL West and why.
Ask Ross Porter
Once again, former Dodgers announcer Ross Porter will be answering select reader questions. Email me a question for Ross, and I will pass it on. The answers will begin once the season starts, but send the questions in now!
And finally
Check out these great photos from the just concluded Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels.
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston.
Twitter: @latimeshouston
Are you a true-blue fan?
Get our Dodgers Dugout newsletter for insights, news and much more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
