LoHud: Abraham: Hot Stove Mailbag No. 1

TRAPPED BEHIND ENEMY LINES...THEY PASSED THE WORD ALONG TO—ATTACK! (And Michael Kay as Capt. Erskine Cooney is just swell!)

I heard something fairly disturbing during a YES broadcast. Michael Kay said that Joe Girardi commented on a question about being more patient at the plate by saying that he thinks the game has changed, that pitchers now attack the strike zone more aggressively, and being patient just gets hitters in the hole 0-1 or 0-2. The implication was that Girardi was of the opinion that hitters should not try to be as patient as they may have been in the past. Clearly, given his comments at his press conference, this doesn’t appear to be a position Brian Cashman takes. Is there any reason to believe that the team’s lack of discipline at the plate this year had to do with managerial philosophy as opposed to some guys having bad years, and some guys getting hurt? If so, that could spell a more long-term problem for the team.

Answer: I don’t think the manager has a direct impact on plate discipline. I would doubt (at least I hope not) that Girardi instructed his players to swing at pitches earlier in the count. I do think that once the likes of Ponson and Rasner were in the rotation, the hitters started to press and some guys got out of what they would normally do. Girardi probably could have done a better job of calming everybody down in June instead of holding a team meeting every 20 minutes. I can’t imagine being patient and working counts will ever not be the right approach. I’ve not heard Girardi espouse that.