When Matt Blake was hired by the Yankees to be the new pitching coach, some Yankee fans went bananas. I guess they all wanted David Cone because he was a name that they can recognize. He's also very smart and a perfect fit for the Yankees clubhouse. But for whatever reason, the Yankees thought that Matt Blake was a better candidate. By the way... Matt Blake is a GREAT hire.
Now weirdos are out there blasting this guy, I guess because they have no idea who he is. But trust me, it's a great move.
The New York Post writes of Blake:
"Blake was perhaps a name not heard of outside of those familiar with the inner-workings of the Indians and others who knew his reputation in New England, where the Holy Cross alumnus had come to be thought of as something of a “pitching guru,” according to his old college coach, Craig Najarian.
Just four years ago, Blake was a pitching coach at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School near Boston, where he was also the owner and founder of Elite Pitching Development and the pitching coordinator at Cressey Sports Performance, a program that has worked with the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Max Scherzer and Curt Schilling, among others.
'He’s ahead of his time,’ said Kirk Fredericks, who brought Blake on as his pitching coach at Lincoln-Sudbury about a decade ago.'"
And Sweeny Murti writes:
"Who is he? Part of the new breed. ...Pitching Coordinator at Cressey Sports Performance, a factory similar to Driveline. And Driveline, coincidentally, is where the Yankees found Sam Briend who they named Director of Pitching earlier this year. Someone who has worked with Blake told me he is
'extremely smart on the analytic side but doesn’t have much actual coaching experience. That might be the challenge, but it might not. He’s easy going, but very smart.'”
And isn't this what we want? Larry Rothschild, God love him, was there too long. There needed to be a change. Plus, good for the Padres, they just hired him to do the same role.
And sure, it wasn't Coney, but whatever... give Blake a chance.
I like this move a lot.
I dont. These are major league professionals and you need a guy whos been there done that. David Cone would have been perfect. But giving a guy a pitching coach job in the majors that has never pitched in the majors doesnt know how these guys go about preparing for games an a 162 game season to me is a big mistake but if it works it works but I need a guy whos been there knows the game like a David Cone.
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