Buck lays into Mountcastle during "reassignment to minor camp" and possible new position?

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

While I don't have names at hand this isn't new for Buck.

And like I said, it's Mountcastle's first big league camp.  Should Buck really be out of ideas on how to get through to him already?

Maybe! Depends on what he's hearing from his minor league coaches, and maybe better to get into his head now while he still can make some changes rather than late. And if it works, great. If it doesn't, he's an Adam Jones type of aggressive hitter anyway and that'll probably be fine, too. 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Based on observation, I’d say it was more Schoop laying off bad pitches than pitchers being more careful.   We know his swing rate on pitches outside the zone drooped from 43% to 37%.

Which is good, but do we know if they were the same quality of pitches?

For instance you might have the near strike meant to induce a swing or you might have the not so close, I don't want this guy to hurt me ball.

It is kinda the counterpoint to Rickard's decease in walk rate.

If pitchers fear you you will walk more.  If they don't fear you you will walk less.

 

I will say that yes, Schoop did look to have a better approach both last season.

[Moose Milligan]

Much ado about nothing.  That really wasn't "laying into" him.  

[interloper]

3 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Much ado about nothing.  That really wasn't "laying into" him.  

I mean, that too.

[eddie83]

Well Hays with bases loaded and no out popped up on a pitch well up in the zone. 

Guess the story hasn’t got back to him yet.  

[ReclaimTheCrown]

39 minutes ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

That's how it seemed at first, but taking into account what @Tony-OH has provided too, it seems like Mountcastle laughed in the "don't tell me how to hit" manner. There was probably more said too, but this is what was made public.

Certainly open to interpretation.  Despite Tony's anecdote of a young hitter that reacted poorly in a certain situation when challenged by his minor league manager, I'd still be pretty surprised if he was so brash as to laugh in the face of a seasoned big league manager of the team he's eventually going to try to make.  Again, I've got no idea, but I'm willing to give the kid the benefit of the doubt that he's a little more respectful than that, even if he did internally disagree with the critique.

But again, open to interpretation.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, eddie83 said:

Well Hays with bases loaded and no out popped up on a pitch well up in the zone. 

Guess the story hasn’t got back to him yet.  

Yeah that was a particularly disappointing AB. 

[Frobby]

Worth mentioning, it’s not like everything Buck said about Mountcastle was negative.   

“But he’s got a chance to be really good.

“Try to keep in mind that he just turned 21.   We had a good talk today.   With the young guys, I like to let them do a little self-evaluating, let them grade themselves out.”

 

[eddie83]

Sounds like Buck thought this kid had to  be knocked down a peg. 

Different ways to motivate people. Does not bother me at all.  

[El Gordo]

4 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Sounds like Buck thought this kid had to  be knocked down a peg. 

Different ways to motivate people. Does not bother me at all.  

Me either. Different strokes for different folks. No absolutes in baseball. Not usually a good idea to go public but occasionally it can be. We don't know the player or the circumstances. Who's to say it wasn't the right thing to do?

[GoldGlove21]

2 hours ago, Legend_Of_Joey said:

Per Roch:

Manny Machado walked a total of just 49 times in about 1000 plate appearances in 2013 and 2014. Adam Jones has very low walk numbers in his career. Trying to preach plate discipline is great, but it is not like the Orioles have a lot of that on the major league roster. I think challenging guys is motivation and Buck identified what he wanted the kid to work on, but if he can't play defense he will not be in Buck's everyday lineup. I think the defense is a more glaring factor than his walks.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Everywhere I have worked, including the military had the same policy.  A boss has an issue with a worker they take the worker aside and work it out.  You don't do it in front of everyone.  You certainty don't pull some aside and go public with others.

I have a little military experience myself

Saying that, I think they are different. Even in the military, I certainly got treated differently as a private and young Sergeant than as a CW4. However, the military is not a spectator sport where I had to talk to the media everyday about my soldiers. If I did, you can be assured smart-ass private snuffy probably is not going to get the same treatment as First Sergeant Tough-ass. 

Buck didn't ream him out in front of everyone, but he did explain the situation on how Mountcastle reacted (which was immature by the account given). Buck is not a cookie cutter manager. He manages and deals with each player individually. In this situation he felt it necessary to say how the young man reacted. Perhaps in this case he felt the young man needed to have this in the public so he can learn from it. I can gaurentee if next spring, Mountcastle has a different attitude it will be noted, whether Buck is here or not.

Everyone loves the story where the guy matures and comes back and does well. It will be up to Mountcastle to give everyone the happy ending to this story.

[Tony-OH]

58 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Worth mentioning, it’s not like everything Buck said about Mountcastle was negative.   

“But he’s got a chance to be really good.

“Try to keep in mind that he just turned 21.   We had a good talk today.   With the young guys, I like to let them do a little self-evaluating, let them grade themselves out.”

 

And as a good leader does, he leaves things on a positive note. It's classic counseling. Start with the good, give them the things they need to improve on, judge their reaction, react to those reactions, then try and leave things on a positive note.

[interloper]

Yeah, and just like, don't go into a meeting with one of the great MLB managers and be like "meh, I'm a free swinger, haha" and expect that to be gravy. 

[Yardball85]

15 minutes ago, birdwatcher55 said:

This kid will be in Baltimore long after Buck is gone. I would have laughed too.

Why though?  Buck's right.  He needs to become a more disciplined hitter before he can reach his full potential.  I'm sure he meant nothing nefarious by the laugh and probably did it as a reflex, but there's nothing wrong with what Buck said to him.