Mike Matheny Continues To Improve

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

There is no denying that Mike Matheny has been successful as a manager. Since he took over the job in the 2012 season, the St. Louis Cardinals have been to the playoffs in all four years including three division championships, and advancing to the World Series. Matheny has amassed 382 wins in his tenure and has generally been regarded as a great clubhouse guy. With that being said, there are things that he had been noticeably bad at. He has mishandled that tactical aspect of being a manager. He has traditionally based lineup decisions more on “feel” and loyalty to a player than stats. He has also mishandled the bullpen whether that be overworking guys or…the infamous game 5 of the 2014 NLCS where he inserted a pitcher who hadn’t pitched in over a month during a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, while his best relief pitcher was left in the bullpen. Due to these mistakes, a number of fans and some analysts have questioned whether the Cardinals have won because of or in spite of Matheny. Many have wondered if the Cardinals could ever win the World Series with him as a manager.

The beginning of the 2016 season has seen more of the same from Matheny. However, there is evidence that Matheny may be learning how to properly utilize his team by putting them in a position to win.

One of the most noticeable improvements made so far in this season is the use of the bullpen. In the past, Matheny has been someone that followed the old school method of having set roles for his pitchers where certain relievers must pitch in their certain innings and that the closer should come in only when there is a save opportunity. He would occasionally put in Trevor Rosenthal in a tie game in the ninth inning, but he rarely, if ever, put him in during the eighth inning.  There was a situation last week in a game against the Atlanta Braves where the Braves had the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth with two outs. Now, usually this would be a no brainer for any manager to bring in their closer for the four out save, however, Matheny does not do this as he wants to save Rosenthal for the classic three out save in the ninth. Matheny, showing improvement in situation knowledge, called on Rosenthal who promptly got a strikeout to end the threat. This was one of many good decisions made by Matheny throughout a season where he has showed better use of the bullpen. Pitchers are staying rested and the results have reflected Matheny’s good judgement.

In addition to bullpen use, Matheny’s managing skills have been criticized due to his lineup construction. During his first few years as manager, it seemed that Matheny had his 8 position players and those typically were his guys throughout the year. He would give some off days from time to time, but that was for rest rather than for a statistical advantage. When constructing a lineup, some managers use a platoon system, or splitting time between players for statistical advantage. An example would be a left handed hitter who hits right handers well would platoon with a right handed hitter who hits left handers well. So far in 2016 Mike Matheny has actually used this platoon system. At second base, the Cardinals have two capable players. They have right handed hitter, Jedd Gyorko and left handed hitter, Kolten Wong. Since Jedd hits left handers better than Kolten Wong and Kolten hits right handers better than Jedd then this makes perfect sense to platoon with those two players. This is a huge improvement over the last two years when it seemed that he would ignore those advantages and instead play the so called “hot hand”.

While there are other aspects of managing that Mike Matheny can work on and get better at, it is encouraging to see that he has improved since last year. He has been widely criticized because of his tactical decision making, and some of those claims can still be made today but there is no denying that he has improved in this area. Mike Matheny has been known as a great clubhouse manager and someone who gets the most out of his players. If you combine his handling of the clubhouse with improving tactical decision making, then you may be looking at a guy that could jump into the upper echelon of managers in Major League Baseball.