Cubs Hire Dale Sveum as Manager
On Friday morning, the Cubs are set to announce Dale Sveum as their new manager. Sveum comes from Milwaukee where he has been their bench coach (2006-08) and hitting coach (and interim manager) since 2009. In 2004 - 2005 he served as the Boston third base coach where he was credited with aggressively shifting players on defense according to hit charts as well as aggressively sending players home only to be thrown out by a mile. Fortunately, he can bring the philosophy about utilizing data to prepare his team while leaving someone else to coach third base.
The other day, I posted my thoughts on hiring a manager with a sequenced list of what I hoped to see:
- Will he consistently reinforce the message about owning the strike zone to both hitters and pitchers?
- How well will he handle the pitching staff?
- Does he have enough of a presence to command the respect of the team?
- Will he avoid giving up outs unnecessarily?
It is impossible to know how well Sveum will handle #2, but we can get some insight into the rest of the list.
Looking at the Brewers team hitting statistics, Sveum's imprint can be seen. Not only has the team consistently been a quality hitting team for quite some time under Sveum as hitting coach, but most all of the hitters in the lineup also showed very solid plate discipline. The typical challenge is trying to separate the nature of the hitter from the instructions of the coach. In this case, though, we can look at many of the players who have spent their entire careers under Sveum's instruction to see how they have progressed.
Ryan Braun was one of the best hitters in the league since his rookie year. What is interesting to note here is the increase in his walk rate each and every year. He has gone from 5.9% (walks / PA) - 6.3% - 8.1% - 8.2% - 9.2%. Braun didn't come to the big leagues as a selective hitter, but he has become more so each year working with Sveum.
In Corey Hart's first three years, he walked at a rate of 6.6%, 6.4% and 4.1%. His last three years he has improved that to be 9.1%, 7.3% and 9.3%.
Fielder: 9.1% - 13.2% - 12.1% - 15.3% - 16.0% - 15.5%
Other hitters show similar trends under Sveum. I feel fairly confident that he will reinforce ownership of the strike zone to the hitters as manager of the Cubs. I also hope Starlin Castro can make this type of progress under his tutelage.
For the third item on the list, the reports from the Milwaukee players seem to be unanimous in their praise of Sveum as a coach. Time will tell if this carries over to his time as a manager, but he has a very solid reputation for being able to relate to players.
Finally, we'll have to wait to see his philosophy on how to use his 27 outs a game.
I'm excited by seeing what the Cubs will do under Sveum, but I'll be more excited if he can help lure Prince Fielder to come with him.
Let me know your thoughts below.
