Are there baseball fans here? This opening day, there have *got* to be baseball fans here.
Last night, I was reading through my 2016 Baseball Prospectus entry for the Tampa Bay Rays. (I'm a total dweeb.)
The Rays are among the most cutting edge franchises, a leading analytics shop on the inside, and a black box that does not self-promote to the outside. (We know Theo Epstein runs an innovative team because he always tells you how innovative his team is; the Rays just are.)
One of the observations from the article is that the Rays use communication to the media and the chattering classes for very specific purposes. Basically, they discuss things with the media to rally the troops and to build camaraderie and common purpose around potentially unorthodox approaches that require team buy-in.
There were two specific examples:
1. Limiting starting pitchers by batters faced or times through the order, versus pitches or innings
2. Promoting an aggressive, 'hit the first fastball you see' approach, as opposed to the patience-focused approach that's been in vogue since moneyball (which was about finding value in undervalued skills, and not about taking walks) came out in 2003
With #1, it's an observation bloggers made. The Rays modified how they handled starters' workloads. They deployed their bullpen differently, using relievers for longer stints. They removed pitchers 18 outs into effective outings, even with low pitch counts. But it wasn't necessarily controversial, though it was different - no need to rally the relief corps around more innings, or the starters around a quick hook.
With #2, a change in approach pretty clearly came from a team meeting in late July. And it's different, not just from baseball in general, but from the Rays' training on approach over the past decade. In the Rays' estimation, "Work the count, get to the pen" has proven a less effective tactic as 98 mph flamethrowers have become increasingly common. And, as the Rays' pitches per appearance dipped and first pitch swinging percentage surged, their manager, hitting coach, team leaders, other players all openly discussed it with reporters. BP surmised that this effort was to reassure the players themselves that it was important, and that *it was working*.
Does Fitz handle media interactions this way? No, not at all. Do most coaches? Probably not. It's not groundbreaking - 'rally the troops' and 'celebrate success' are all both change management and business philosophies - but it is interesting to see the Rays be so apparently intentional in these interactions.
In general, I thought it was interesting.