Marty Reed out as roving pitching coordinator
Ordinarily, minor-league coaching moves don't warrant much attention. But the Dodgers' decision not to renew the contract of Marty Reed after this season -- and to relieve him of his duties immediately -- at least gets your attention. Marty is the Dodgers' roving minor-league pitching coordinator, meaning he oversees the pitching coach at each affiliate and is the guy whose job it is to make sure the organization's pitching philosophy is being practiced at each level. Marty is a really good guy whom I have gotten to know during spring training the past couple of years, and he has always had time to help me out whenever I needed to get his voice into a story about one of the Dodgers' pitching prospects. I spoke with DeJon Watson, and all he would say was, ``We don't comment on personnel matters,'' and in his defense, that IS an organizational policy (albeit one that isn't always strictly adhered to). But after doing some additional investigative work, I came to find out that the biggest reason behind this was apparently the fact that the Dodgers' minor-league pitchers at all four of the club's full-season affiliates were walking way too many batters, and apparently Marty became the fall guy for that.
Here are the numbers going into today:
Triple-A Las Vegas -- 469 walks in 1097 2/3 innings, sixth-most walks in the 16-team Pacific Coast League, average of 3.8 per nine innings
Double-A Jacksonville--476 walks in 1062 innings, most in the 10-team Southern League, 4.0 walks per nine innings
high Single-A Inland Empire--499 walks in 1086 innings, second-most in the 10-team California League, 4.1 per nine innings
low Single-A Great Lakes--443 walks in 1047.33 innings, third-most in the 14-team Midwest League, 3.8 walks per nine innings.
What a shame. I've known Marty for several years having met him at the Dodgers Fantasy Camp. He's a class guy and a very knowledgeable baseball man who has time for everybody and a wealth of experience and tremendous teaching skills. IMO he'll be sorely missed and has been thrown on the sword (or under the bus) for no good reason. I've also met DeJon Watson and found him to be a class guy and very approachable as well, so I'm at a loss to figure out how this has happened.
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach; those who can't teach are roving minor league pitching coordinators. Since there's an opening, to whom do I send my resume?
This is a cumulative 3.96 Walks/9 inn.
It's pretty bad. But I fail to see where a roving pitching instructor has more to do with this than the actual pitching coach of the team. Doesn't a pitching coach have more of an influence on a day-to-day basis?
It's easier to replace one roving instructor than FOUR pitching coaches.
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But after today, if I am one of those four coaches, I wouldn't be getting too comfortable, or shopping for a house to buy.
Maybe Ned figures if he cans enough little guys, McCourt won't fire him. Fire that piece of crap.