Larry Rothschild Scouting Report?

by Brandon C. on Nov 19, 2010 8:53 PM CST

As a blogger, I am very used to asking people from other SB Nation sites for scouting reports about other pitchers. Considering Rothschild pitched in the MLB as much as Brian Schlitter has, I'm not going to ask about his pitching scouting report. What I am going to ask for is a scouting report of his style and talents as a pitching coach.

Any information, I have heard and read that he tends to not be aggressive on two strike counts, instead of teaching players to finish he teaches them to nibble in these situations. Is that true? What are his strengths and weaknesses, and did the Yankees make a good hire?

Thanks in advance, and for whoever asked about Dave Eiland in Al's post, Eiland wasn't bad, but didn't really give Yankees fans too much to be enthused with. He primarily got the job because he had worked with the majority of the Yankees young pitchers already and while I didn't personally find anything wrong with him, I didn't find anything that he was wonderful at, either.

Eiland's personal issues were never revealed.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.

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By the way, since you guys are looking for a pitching coach now, you guys should definitely consider A.J. Burnett. Maybe as a favor to me? He’d make things…interesting.

Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Big Yankees and NY Rangers fan!
R.I.P. Freddy 'Sez', Bob Sheppard, George Steinbrenner

by Brandon C. on Nov 19, 2010 9:01 PM CST reply actions

Burnett for Soriano - done!

Lou Brown: "My kinda team, Charlie, my kinda team..."

by ballhawk on Nov 19, 2010 9:06 PM CST up reply actions

Have your people call my people and we’ll get this done. Just be prepared for Soraino hitting a walk off against Burnett in the World Series!

Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Big Yankees and NY Rangers fan!
R.I.P. Freddy 'Sez', Bob Sheppard, George Steinbrenner

by Brandon C. on Nov 19, 2010 9:09 PM CST up reply actions

but not before being thrown out at 2nd before the run scores because he was staring at the ball for a minute

He's my Hossa
HO-HO-HO-HO-HOSSA

by jesus christos on Nov 19, 2010 9:26 PM CST up reply actions

I had a great post in mind and was almost done with it, but I just couldn't finish it off....Just like Cub pitchers with 0-2 counts!

by TJ11 on Nov 19, 2010 9:05 PM CST reply actions

Did you get too picky and change the last sentence a lot?

Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Big Yankees and NY Rangers fan!
R.I.P. Freddy 'Sez', Bob Sheppard, George Steinbrenner

by Brandon C. on Nov 19, 2010 9:08 PM CST up reply actions

Yes....

I had to consult my wife and dog on the wording. I tried 3 times before I grooved one down the middle and gave up!

by TJ11 on Nov 19, 2010 9:16 PM CST up reply actions

Did the Yankees get his towel collection as well? Or is it trademarked by the Cubs?

by TJ11 on Nov 19, 2010 9:17 PM CST reply actions

Response

One of the criticisms with Rothschild is that Cubs pitchers will nibble sometimes. I’m sure Al will chime in. That might be the biggest negative.

Overall though I think he has done a good job with the Cubs. Pitching hasn’t been the Cubs problems in the past 10 years. Rothschild has to get some credit for Dempster’s comeback, the emergence of Marmol and Wells being better than anyone could have expected. Greg Maddux evidently also thought highly of Rothschild. On the downside is the nibbling and he has never gotten the most from Zambrano but could anyone?

John Grabow: $4.8 million in 2011.

by rlpete on Nov 19, 2010 9:42 PM CST reply actions

I agree with this response.

Well summed up.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 20, 2010 7:06 AM CST up reply actions

Where's the proof that Rothschild is to blame?

Do we know, or even have an inclination, that Larry’s philosophy when pitchers got ahead was to nibble and piss around into 3-2 counts?

Al, you mentioned after the Yankees hired him that “now Cub pitchers won’t nibble as much”. I had a laugh at that. How do we know our pitchers couldn’t just hit their spots? We had some pretty good bullpens and rotations under Rothschild. The Yankees aren’t stupid. They hired him for a reason.

He’ll do fine in the Bronx.

Scott Bora$ is satan.

by Canadian Cubs Fan on Nov 21, 2010 8:22 PM CST up reply actions

Rothschild...

…clearly (at least to me) had a "nibble philosophy that tended to ease up once Lou came onboard and he influenced this strategy from his loathing of walks. There were times, when you could simply watch the Cub’s catcher and see how they set up behind the plate compared to other catchers. Even on 2-1 or 2-0 counts, Cub’s catchers would often set up on the corners and this is one of the biggest reasons Cub’s teams were at or very near the league lead in walks for Larry’s entire tenure (except a couple years under Piniella).

Rothschild would be a great pitching coach for a staff that has exceptional command (probably the reason Maddux has great things to say about him), but for a power staff, I don’t think his history would match up well, unless he has had a change of philosophy himself.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Nov 21, 2010 11:32 PM CST up reply actions

Under Joe Girardi...

… here’s where the Yankee pitching staffs ranked in walks in the AL:

2008: 9th-most
2009: 4th-most
2010: 6th-most

So they’ve been in the middle of the pack. Unless there are major changes in that staff, I don’t see Rothschild having much of an impact in that factor, anyway.

If they sign Cliff Lee, they’ll move way up the list of “fewest walks”. But that will be Lee’s doing, not Rothschild.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 22, 2010 8:09 AM CST up reply actions

Also his phone skills are impeccable.

He is quick to the phone, wasting little to no time, and never once did he dial the wrong number or bullpen by accident.

"I'd rather hit home runs you don't have to run as hard." -- Dave Kingman

by BucknerKongCardenal on Nov 21, 2010 8:33 AM CST reply actions

Impressive! Eiland used to call for pizza, which he would try to convince Girardi was an accident.

Writer for Pinstripe Alley, MLB Daily Dish
Follow me on twitter @nyybrandonc
Big Yankees and NY Rangers fan!
R.I.P. Freddy 'Sez', Bob Sheppard, George Steinbrenner

by Brandon C. on Nov 21, 2010 12:46 PM CST up reply actions

I would cite Carlos Silva...

…as one of Rothschild’s greatest success stories. Silva’s first half of 2010 was, honestly, one of the more remarkable comebacks I’ve witnessed as a fan. Maybe Larry can work some similiar magic on A.J. Burnett.

Contributing Editor, SB Nation Chicago. Please follow us on Twitter!

by daver on Nov 22, 2010 9:44 AM CST reply actions

The guy was basically a punch line when he was traded

so yeah

by ol Pete on Nov 23, 2010 4:25 PM CST up reply actions

I wonder how much he had to do with Sean Marshall's evolution

He’s really become a top reliever.

by ol Pete on Nov 23, 2010 4:27 PM CST reply actions

We'll never know for sure...

…whether Marshall or anyone else would have developed no matter who the pitching coach was.

That is one of the great mysteries of figuring out where coaches have influence. The best thing you can do is look at a long track record of their body of work. When you do that, Rothschild is probably as good as most other pitching coaches, but doesn’t approach the results of someone like Duncan.

"I don't like them fellas that drive in two runs but let in three" Casey Stengel

by MPH73 on Nov 24, 2010 12:30 AM CST up reply actions

His meetings on the mound are second to none.

Watch him closely when he gets to the mound, the first words out of his mouth are almost always, “Okay, one pitch at a time.” I always thought this was brilliant baseball advice. A cynical pitcher might say, “Come on, coach! I was gonna go with three pitches at a time!” Seriously, the media in Chicago will never let him forget that the 1-2 punch of Kerry Wood and Mark Prior never panned out. But overall, he’s a good pitching coach. I have never heard a Cubs pitcher, past or present, say anything negative about him.

"Don't complain to me about the stormy weather, boys. Just bring the ship into port." --Steve Stone, September 2004

by ctcoff99 on Nov 24, 2010 12:30 PM CST reply actions

Watch him closely when he gets to the mound, the first words out of his mouth are almost always, "Okay, one pitch at a time."

Seriously? Are you a lipreader?

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Nov 24, 2010 12:54 PM CST up reply actions

Watch him closely sometime, Al.

Since he’s with the Yankees now, it will be difficult, but watch him closely in the Cubs-Yankees series this year when he comes to the mound. I’m no professional lipreader, but in this case, I guess it is lip-reading. He says it every time.

"Don't complain to me about the stormy weather, boys. Just bring the ship into port." --Steve Stone, September 2004

by ctcoff99 on Nov 24, 2010 1:17 PM CST up reply actions