I will be the first to admit that I did not like Cito Gaston in his first stint with the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, he won the 2 World Series in 1992 and 1993 that stand out today as 2 of my favorite moments in sports, but let’s face it, I probably could have managed them to a World Series with the teams that Pat Gillick put on the field. I was always of the belief that Cito was a lazy manager, who typically left his pitchers in too long and never used his bench (“trenches” excepted in the 1992 WS), or altered his line-up to maximize their output. He was also terrible at managing kids.
What I will admit is that maybe that’s what the team needed back then. They had great Starting Pitching and a fantastic 1-2 closing punch but were lacking in middle relievers. Plus, their starting 9 were all all-star calibre players and the bench wasn’t always needed. They also did not have a great wave of young players coming up at that point as they were typically traded away for Superstars before they made it to the big team.
I will also admit that I did not show any more enthusiasm when he was hired back to replace John Gibbons this year. It seemed to be a bad short term solution that would reap little benefit. Most people have agreed with this and have not seen a turnaround in the team as they are still hovering around .500.
However, putting my dislike aside and diving into the numbers, he’s actually done a pretty solid job thus far. The team has enjoyed a 16-12 record that has actually brought the team back to .500. Plus, he has squeezed 5.0 runs/game out of an offense that was only producing 4.0 runs/game under John Gibbons. Granted, the pitching is now letting up 4.2 runs/game as opposed to 3.9 under Gibbons, but consider the fact that #2 and #3 starters Marcum and McGowan have missed a combined 7 out of 12 starts under Gaston. Imagine, with how the offense was running under Gibbons, how much lower this team would have been if they had been missing those two pitchers.
I guess it sort of makes sense. I always thought that Gaston was a great hitting coach and should have stayed in that position for his career. This team needed to improve their hitting and they now have one of the best hitters’ managers in Gaston. He has also done a great job of using his bullpen and his bench. He has frequently mixed up the line-up and has achieved a higher yield from his hitters as a result. He has even stuck with Adam Lind (the kid) in the Outfield and Lind is putting up by far his best performances under Gaston. Which makes me re-visit my earlier theory that maybe his style back in the early 90′s was based on the players and team that he had.
This is an early prognosis, and I may be retracting this when the Jays hit the skids again, but it seems that Gaston actually employs an adaptive approach to his managing style, which begs the question as to why he has been out of work for the last decade.
Therefore, my verdict on Cito Gaston’s performance so far: “KUDOS”
Tags: Cito Gaston, Toronto BLue Jays
