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Just 10 days after dismissing Larry Rothschild as their pitching coach, the Yankees found a replacement. According to Jeff Passan, New York will hire Matt Blake to fill the role.
Blake most recently served an Assistant Director for Player Development with the Cleveland Indians, focusing specifically on pitching. Joel Sherman reports he recently jumped up to Director of Pitching Development.
No stranger to the Yankees, he spent significant time as an area scout for the team. He attended College of the Holy Cross, where he played baseball for four seasons.
While he may not be a household name, Blake appears well respected in the industry. The Indians reportedly offered him their pitching coach job in October 2015. He declined, preferring to build up more experience.
Consider what Zack Meisel, who covers the Indians for The Athletic, has to say about Blake.
The Indians promoted Matt Blake to their director of pitching development just two days ago. He’s highly regarded (obviously, since he’s now apparently the Yankees pitching coach) both at coaching and translating advanced data into terms pitchers can understand and utilize. https://t.co/jeLOXy91rh
— Zack Meisel (@ZackMeisel) November 8, 2019
Taking analytics and communicating it to the team fits the team’s modus operandi. That’s essentially what led the team to Aaron Boone in their 2017 managerial search.
The Yankees had been connected to several NCAA pitching coaches, as well as former All-Star and current broadcaster David Cone. This is a developing story. Stay tuned to Pinstripe Alley for more details.