Weighted runs created plus(wRC+) as you may have seen in relation to player analysis, values a players contributions to run scoring and is one of the more efficient and intuitive tools in researching a player. League average is 100 and every point higher or lower is a percentage point better or worse than a league average hitter, obviously. This stat doesn’t account for position and it isn’t a projection tool but rather a story teller of what HAS happened already. More importantly, wRC+ accounts for environment. It is park and league adjusted, allowing for comparison of of players in different leagues, parks and even different eras.
Understanding that this statistic is the full measure of what a hitter is bringing to the table every game while accounting for all variables is important for this portion of managerial tendencies because we’re going to be taking a look into some situations where MLB managers are flat out not getting it done. Also, understand that sometimes players are just getting to play because of their big contracts, tying the hands of the teams’ manager. Here are a few situations of managers not playing the right guys in the right situations and which guys, if any, should be taking their place. Let’s go!
Alex Cora (Boston Red Sox)
Starting things off with the A.L. East leading Boston Red Sox it’s hard to nit pick a manager whose team is 40 games over .500 but here we are. Eduardo Núñez is getting almost every day playing time and just isn’t producing. Nunez has a 54 wRC+ versus lefties in 86 plate appearances and an 85 wRC+ in 211 plate appearances versus righties in 2018. Cora keeps rolling him out there instead of handing over the reigns to one Brock Holt .They basically rotate out of the lineup at the second base position or one will cover for a day off for Devers or Bogaerts. This should be Holt’s job.
Brock Holt has a 177 wRC+ vs. LHP and a 101 wRC+ vs. RHP in 30 PA’s and 156 PA’s, respectively. Cora doesn’t seem interested in limiting Nunez’ playing time as of right now but he’s not doing Boston any favors by keeping him in there. If you need another trusted metric to believe us here, let’s ask wOBA. Brock Holt has a .341 wOBA to Nunez’ .287. Holt hits lefties just fine and is an excellent defender, there’s no reason this should continue.
Buck Showalter (Baltimore Orioles)
I mean come on, really Buck? I get it, he is under contract through 2022 at 23 million per year but my goodness. This guy is literally batting .155 and is striking out almost 36% of the time! In nine months, Chris Davis ’ age and his current wRC+ will be the exact same, 33. What this means is that Chris Davis is worse at run creation than the average MLB player by 67%. Let that sink in, a guy who is still owed $100+ million dollars has a wRC+ worse than José Reyes , Alcides Escobar and Max Scherzer , yes that Max Scherzer .
It is absolutely astounding that Chris Davis has a roster spot based on his production but the money is CLEARLY the culprit here. The “slugger” has 104 strikeouts and 94 total bases this season. Eventually the Orioles, in a rebuild, will have to do something about this and call up a young prospect to take his place. While there is no clear player being blocked by Davis at this moment, that’s not the point. The point is Davis cannot be in this lineup, or any lineup for that matter. We could throw out a million reasons why and it will never quite fully explain how bad he needs to go.
Mike Matheny (St.Louis Cardinals)
If you’ve been reading the Managerial Tendencies articles every week then you’ll know that Mr. Matheny is a frequent visitor to this piece and that’s not good for him. Basically, in every aspect of handling the Cardinals roster, Matheny butchers it. Now before you assume a bias like “oh this guy must be a Cubs fan”, settle down that’s not the case. Cardinals fans have been all over this guy so this is not a hot take. So here’s the deal, Matheny has come out to say that “It is a possibility that we’re going to focus more on the defense and that might put Jose Martinez in a spot where he could change the game with one at-bat off the bench.” That was said in a radio interview on MLB Network Radio.
To be completely fair, The Cardinals have the second lowest fielding percentage in all of baseball this season and have 72 errors. That total is the most in baseball and is five more than the next worst team. Martinez has seven of those errors but before I get too off topic let’s take a look at what he’s done with his bat. Martinez has a 137 wRC+ versus right handed pitchers in 273 plate appearances. Good lord. That’s higher than Mitch Haniger , Nelson Cruz and LEFT handed hitter Freddie Freeman . Martinez hasn’t been nearly as dangerous versus lefties with an 84 wRC+ in a measly 61 plate appearances but with a BB/K ratio of .90, he’s more than holding his own in the box. As many fantasy owners have been saying for a while now and mostly last season before he got a larger role, when it comes to this situation, the Cardinals need to free Jose Martinez . In fact, type in #freejosemartinez into Twitter and see for yourself. Join the movement folks!