Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais isn’t terrible

Analyzing Seattle Mariners Manager Scott Servais short term performance with a long term perspective.

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais isn’t terrible.

Seriously, he isn’t as bad as some Mariners fans would make you believe; he’s actually almost average.  Most good managers and coaches are only about average. The great Buck Showalter has a .506 win percentage. Bruce Bochy left the dugout last October with a .497 win percentage after 25 years as a Major League manager.

Hall of Famers Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa have .538 and .536 win percentages, respectively. Joe Maddon, hailed as a modern-day Miller Huggins (look it up), has a .537 win percentage. Scott Servais has a .490 win percentage, and he’s done it with some very flawed Mariners teams.

Servais’ first season was 2016, and it was also his highest finish in the AL West. The M’s ended the year in second place with an 86–76 record. He followed that up with back to back third-place finishes.

Last year, General Manager Jerry DiPoto realized the Mariners would be stuck as a mid-pack team if they kept the roster they had. He traded off his better players to begin a much-needed rebuild. Consequently, the team bottomed out with only 68 wins, good for last place in the division. Currently, the Seattle Mariners are in third with a 15–22 record. They are three games better than the Maddon led Angels.

In my opinion, former catchers make excellent managers. They have experience calling games for a pitcher, along with shutting down an opponent’s base running game. Then go to bat and face the same quality Major League pitching they just caught. All this is all while making sure they are superb pitch framers and taking foul tips or bounced balls off their bodies.

Mike Scioscia is a former Major League catcher who had success as an MLB manager, .536 win percentage, and won a title in his third year managing. Torre, Bochy, and Joe Girardi were catchers. Servais is a former Major League catcher as well.

Next: Page 2 – It is what it is

The job

There is always so much that goes into being the head guy for a ball club. Every move that made during a game gets viewed as an all or nothing decision. Consider the following examples:

1. The manager pulls a pitcher who has gotten himself into a jam and brought in a reliever to get out of it.
2. The reliever fails, so the manager looks like an idiot for a) pulling the starter b) bringing in the wrong reliever.

or

1. A Starting pitcher’s pitch count has gotten high but is still in line for the win.
2. The manager pulls the starter for a reliever.
3. The reliever comes in and cough’s up the lead, so the manager looks like an idiot a) pulling the starter b) bringing in the wrong reliever.

There are a few things to consider about these moves. Hitters get paid to hit and score runs. Not every time a pitcher takes the mound, does he have his best stuff. The elite pitchers know how to get outs when they don’t have their best stuff. Think the current version of Clayton Kershaw; his velocity is down, so he has to make pitches and not just rely on his power to get hitters out. Young pitchers have to learn that.

Sometimes the batter was just better that day. It happens, and that’s what the game is all about.

Don’t forget among other duties, he also has to manage personalities, instruct on fundamentals, keep up morale, and deal with the media.

Next: Page 3 – Raising an entire team

Becoming elite

How do the elites become elite? Through practice and experience.

This year the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen has not pitched well. But there is a reason behind Servais putting his relievers in tough situations. He is finding out who are the guys he can count when the Seattle Mariners are competing for the playoffs and title.

It’s 100% unfair for M’s fans to say Servais is dumb for putting in a reliever, and that reliever didn’t get the job done.  Its also unfair to say that X reliever is awful when they’re brought in and fail at their job.

Among the thing he is trying accomplish are:

• Discovering if the reliever can handle the pressure
• Get outs
• See who can get outs when they don’t have their best stuff
• Finding out which reliever he can rely on in crunch time

Also, Servais, is like many of the new aged managers. He uses advanced metrics as a guide to making moves, because of the probability of success.

Next time Servais makes a call to the pen, and the relief pitcher fails, don’t instantly blame the Seattle Mariners’ skipper. The situation called for a relief pitcher to come in and execute. It’s not Servais’ fault if the pitcher fails. The manager isn’t trying to lose. Servais hates to lose. He does what the odds of success suggest he should do. Unfortunately, his moves don’t always work as intended.

I’m not saying that Servais is going to be the next Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, or Bruce Bochy. However once the Seattle Mariners young talent makes it to the show, he might reach that level.

What do you think about Scott Servais? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.

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