The Yankees are in the midst of an identity crisis as they hit the road to try and improve upon their 42-41 record, far below where the team, and many around baseball, figured them to be at this point in the season.
Much of the criticism surrounding the Yanks’ identity is their analytical approach to decision-making, which is the continuation of a league-wide trend that has led to immense success for teams like the Rays and now the Red Sox, who underwent a front office change to bring in a former Tampa Bay front office executive in Chaim Bloom, who has helped the team to a surprising 54-win season so far.
But the Yanks have been widely considered as a team too reliant on that modern aspect of the game, pointing to game two of last year’s ALDS as an example, when Deivi Garcia was taken out after one inning and replaced by J.A. Happ, who told the team he preferred to start the pivotal contest. The Yankees lost, have lost many more games since, and it’s hard to hear about the team’s struggles without hearing accusations of an overreliance on numbers rather than “feel.”
In an interview with Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Yankees assistant general manager Mike Fishman defended the team’s operation, which helped thrust the franchise through an accelerated rebuild that turned into an ALCS appearance just one year after a fire sale.
“First, there are a lot of analytic-heavy teams that are having a lot of success,” Fishman told the New York Post. “The Rays, the Red Sox, the Brewers, the Dodgers, the Giants. These teams are having a lot of success. As far as us, analytics are part of our process. It is part of the process for most teams. It is not our only process…It is providing information for our decisions, for our players, for our coaches, for the front office. It is not making all of the decisions. It is part of the decision to make sure we are making good decisions using all of the tools available.”
Speaking with reporters last week, Hal Steinbrenner backed the team’s operations when asked about a potential overreliance on analytics, stressing that the team has a balance between that more numerical aspects of evaluation and traditional scouting. But analytics is certainly a part of constructing the team, as it is with nearly every other team in baseball, something that likely won’t change because of an underwhelming season.
“The analytics we are using hasn’t really changed from the time we were a successful team over the past years,” Fishman said. “We continue to try to evolve and try to learn more. Analytics is a discovery process trying to learn new things and make yourself better with better information. We are continuing to enhance our research and find the next new thing. That’s a constant process. Analytics has not changed. It has always been part of the process. It’s a valuable tool. We are going to continue to look for higher ground.”
The Yanks haven’t been able to find that higher ground in 2021, vastly underperforming after coming into the season with championship expectations. But a dizzying rate of double plays and outs on the bases coupled with collective slumps and continued injuries leave the team barely peeking above the .500 mark, which has opened the door for criticism throughout the franchise, mainly Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman. But Steinbrenner stood by his manager and GM last week, putting the majority of the blame on the players, and Fishman reiterated that the Yankees are made up of players that have been consistent winners in the past, a team that was constructed with an analytical mindset, but is underperforming in 2021.
“This is the lineup that had success,” Fishman said. “You would live with the double plays if the rest of the production was there. But the rest of the production is not there, so the double plays stand out. It is not easy to turn over a lineup. These are the players we acquired for good reasons and we have had success with these players. And some of the players are not having the same level of success. Some of it is hard to predict.”
Analytics are embraced across the sport as a resource to help make one of the most unpredictable sports more predictable. But nobody could have predicted the season the Yankees are laboring through right now, and it will be tough to predict what the response from ownership will be if it isn’t turned around.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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