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What's Bob Apodaca done lately?
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In his latest mailbag, the Denver Post's Troy E. Renck tackles a question conerning pitching coaches. The reader-submitted question asked whether the Rockies should consider dumping current coach Bob Apodaca and bringing in the currently unemployed Leo Mazzone. Part of Renck's response includes this: Since he filled out his first staff for the 2003 season, manager Clint Hurdle has replaced only one coach based on performance -- hitting instructor Duane Espy after the 2006 season. Apodaca has known Hurdle for nearly 30 years and has coached for him at both the minor and major league levels. Hurdle is loyal to him. Apodaca, in my opinion, has grown into the job, communicating better by communicating less. He's the same coach that led the Rockies to their lowest ERA ever last season. Let's also take a look at what Apodaca's done each season since he started his job with the Rockies:
- 2003: 5.51 R/G (worst in the NL), 5.20 ERA (worst in the NL), 95 ERA+ (7th worst in the NL)
- 2004: 5.70 R/G (worst in the NL), 5.54 ERA (worst in the NL), 89 ERA+ (2nd worst in the NL)
- 2005: 5.32 R/G (2nd worst in the NL), 5.13 ERA (2nd worst in the NL), 93 ERA+ (tied for 3rd worst in the NL)
- 2006: 5.01 R/G (tied for 4th worst in the NL), 4.66 ERA (4th worst in the NL), 105 ERA+ (tied for 3rd best in the NL)
- 2007: 4.65 R/G (8th best in the NL), 4.32 ERA (8th best in the NL), 111 ERA+ (3rd best in the NL)
- 2008 (through 126 games): 5.19 R/G (2nd worst in the NL), 4.88 ERA (2nd worst in the NL), 95 ERA+ (6th worst in the NL)
So, yeah, he is the coach who led the Rockies to their lowest ERA ever in a season, but he's also consistently led a pitching staff that ranked at the bottom of the league. Not that we didn't already know that. Apparently Hurdle's loyalty blinds him to what's actually going on.
