Key details explain why Rangers shouldn't worry about Skip Schumaker's dismal manager ranking

With all the advanced metrics and modalities that have descended upon the game of baseball over the last few decades, there is seemingly a statistic for everything. One of those new stats involves major league managers and how their decision-making process either positively or negatively affects their team and the outcome of a game. Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker doesn't grade out so favorably in this attempt to measure the impact skippers have on the game.

The Manager Decision Success Rank enumerates the best to the worst of the big league skippers based on the win probability that can be directly tied to in-game decisions the manager makes regarding bringing in relief pitchers and calling on pinch hitters.

Rangers manager Skip Scumaker's abysmal ranking is skewed by forces outside of his control

According to the Manager Decision Success Rate, Rangers skipper Skip Schumaker is almost dead last in the league ranking, ahead of only AJ Hinch of the Detroit Tigers. His -1.29 number means that by this metric, he is one of the worst decision-makers in MLB.

But there is something inherently flawed with this statistic that is unaccounted for. First, it doesn't consider the competency of the players available on a manager's bench whom he can turn to in a high-leverage pinch-hitting situation or relief appearance.

Schumaker, for instance, doesn't have any players who specialize in pinch-hitting the way that guys like Matt Stairs. Lenny Harris. Cliff Johnson, or Manny Mota, used to. These guys made a career out of coming off the bench in the later innings, completely cold, and getting the job done. Shumaker has platoon players who aren't playing because of the pitching matchup. Andrew McCutcheon was a prime example of this type of player before he was DFAd. Jarred Kelenic will likely serve a similar role against righties.

Schumaker is being penalized for something he has no control over. The Rangers simply don't have PH specialists on their roster as they opt to stash platoon players instead. He has not made a "What the hell?!" kind of move yet this season. He has worked with the weapons Ray Davis and Chris Young have bestowed upon him. They haven't all worked out, but that's baseball.

Also, though the bullpen has been decent so far this season, it has been primarily two guys who have been really good coming in and getting outs in Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz. Other guys like Jalen Beeks, Tyler Alexander, Peyton Gray, Chris Martin, and Cole Winn have delivered a mixed bag of results, as evidenced by the 6-4 loss to the Padres on Saturday. Winn, Alexander, and Joe Ross couldn't hold onto a 3-1 lead and ended up blowing the lead late. Schumaker can't pitch Junis and Latz every day, especially when he is asking them to pitch more than one inning, which he often does.

If you take Latz and Junis's numbers away from the team stats, the team ERA jumps from 3.96 to 4.21. That is a massive contribution from two relievers with a combined 66.2 innings pitched. The jump in bullpen ERA is even more pronounced.

Managers who have rosters and bullpens that are tailored toward more specific roles are going to rank higher than guys like Schumaker. This is not to imply that Schu hasn't made his fair share of questionable calls so far this season, but a stat like this exacerbates numbers like this and unfairly penalizes certain managers.

Some advanced metrics are wonderful additions and really allow management to make the most informed decisions possible - both in-game and with roster makeup. Hard-hit %, and RHP/LHP splits are good examples of why a manager would continue to play someone who isn't getting the best results for a stretch, like Brandon Nimmo this past month. But others are unfair and paint with too broad a brush, like this one.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow