NEWSLETTER
It is always a little unclear how much credit we should give to the coaches at the major league level. When a player struggles or has success, is it because the player has changed something despite the coaching, or is ignoring the coaches, or has been coached into a place where he is more or less successful than he had been? Does the coach even factor into it at all? We have some cases in which we have an idea how those questions may be answered, but in general at the major league level we are never sure how much credit (or blame) the coach gets.
Things are different at the minor league level. The entire point of the minor league system existing is to provide a place for young players to learn and improve on their game so that some of them, usually a small few, can play in the majors and have success. When a farm system is doing a lousy job of producing major league talent, it is often an indication that the coaching is just not getting the job done (poor scouting and draft preparation can also play a roll in those cases). To put it bluntly, a good prospect can be ruined if a team has bad coaching in the farm system.
In the minors, then, coaching matters a lot.
And Manny Ramirez is now one of those coaches. He, along with Pitching Coordinator Derek Johnson, is one of the two highest profile coaches in the organization. No one can dispute his credentials as a hitter – steroids or not, he is one of the best right-handed hitters in history – and the Cubs appear to be convinced that he can teach some of the secrets of his craft to their young hitters. If he can, this could prove to a great signing.
Ramirez won’t turn an average hitter into a good hitter, but he just might help a good hitter refine his game into one that can have sustained success at the next level. The upside to this move may be hard to see on the stat sheets, but I like it all the same. For me, this is a gamble worth taking.
I only wish it had happened sooner. Ramirez will stop in Arizona, and then report to Iowa. That means any hitters in Kane County, Daytona, or Tennessee will not have the opportunity to work with Ramirez this season whether they want to or not. While Baez, Villanueva, Alcantara, and eventually Bryant will certainly benefit, lower level players such as Bruno, Vogelbach, Almora, and Hannemann may not. At least not this season.
Hopefully Ramirez will work out and hang around the farm system for a few years making that point irrelevant.
Scores From The Weekend
Iowa –
Friday – The game stayed close until the late innings as Iowa lost 10-2.
Saturday – The Cubs never trailed in this 8-3 win.
Sunday – A four run fifth propelled the Cubs to a 7-3 win.
Tennessee –
Friday – The Smokies managed a single tally in this 7-1 loss.
Saturday – Tennessee wasted a pretty good pitching performance in this 2-1 loss.
Sunday – They salvaged the weekend, though, with a 7-2 win.
Daytona –
Friday – The Cubs gave up a big first inning and lost 9-2.
Saturday – The Cubs rallied in the bottom of the sixth for a 5-4 Game One win. In Game Two Daytona piled on the runs in the first two innings and walked away with an 8-4 win.
Sunday – The winning streak went to three games with a 4-1 win in Sunday’s Game One. Game Two ended that streak, though, as the Cubs lost 5-2.
Kane County –
Friday – The offense and pitching were both on display in this 7-0 win.
Saturday – Kane County never led as they lost 3-2.
Sunday – Both teams rallied late, but it was Kane County who came away with the 7-3 win.
Performances of Note
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