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Hey, Nineteen: Luis Rojas

Edgy MD Apr 19 2019 07:49 AM

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DzTUeFcWoAEwo6R.jpg > What do you want on your baseball team? Well, quality for starters. Who is going to win without quality? But the fact is that there is a lot of quality to go around. But too much of it of the out-of-control variety. Quality without control is chaos. That's where I come in. I'm Luis Rojas. I'm the Mets' quality control coach. What the hell is that? Good question. Do I make sure shirt tails are tucked in? Do I make sure there's enough catsup at the table? (And do I regulate whether we actually spell "catsup" that way?) A bunch of teams have added this role in recent years, but the consensus on what the guy's responsibilities entail has not gelled. Nonethleless, two things seem to have emerged as regular parts of the job description. [list=1] [*]Fundies: While a team drills on fundamentals all spring, a lot of that can get lost in the day-to-day grind of the season. The QC coach can take a step back and see that a team's rundowns look like shit, their cutoffs are haphazard, or their outfield communication is shot, and hopefully drill the crispness back into the team before a disaster happens. Yeah, the 2019 team is supposed to bunt more to beat the shift, but typically, if a guy hasn't laid one down in the first few weeks, he's not gonna do it at all, and all that work in the spring is for naught. I think I'm supposed to keep that development from atrophying. [*]Preparation and Anticipation: While the manager and the bench coach are focusing on the minute details of the current series, and. the pitching and hitting coaches are perhaps up after midnight reviewing scouting reports from the next series, I'm thinking three weeks ahead to that series in Denver. What's the weather going to be like? Have they called up that superfast rookie? Because Syndergaard's move still needs some work and looking at the rotation, he's probably going to pitch in that series. We can work on that between starts. And hey, their outfielders like to throw behind the runners. I need to have a meeting with Sherlock and make sure our runners are watching those big turns. [/list] I think I'm, like, the Smart-and-Stupid Coach. If the team looks smart out there, pat me on the back. If they look like dopes, curse my name and spit. I'm Luis Rojas. I am not to be overlooked, as I'm a member of the great Alou family — son of Felipe and brother of Moisés (please don't ask about the peeing on the hands). So I take to my new role with no small amount of pride. I've been in the Mets' development system since 2006 — roving instructor, batting coach, manager, etc. Now, I'm controlling quality wherever I go. It's a new thing, and therefore hard to predict. And that's why I'm asking you what my season will turn out to be.

Edgy MD Apr 19 2019 08:14 PM Re: Hey, Nineteen: Luis Rojas

Rojas needs to have a talk with Lugo.