MVN - Most Valuable Network

Is This The Man Behind The Rays Success?

Far too often coaches in sports receive the blame for the failure of his or her players. It happens to every coach in every league at every level. It is no different here in Tampa Bay, and it’s no different for Rays Pitching Coach Jim Hickey.

As a Rays fan and member of the RaysBB board, Hickey was often criticized for the poor pitching performances we saw in 2007. To some extent a coach should be judged by his players performance, but given a group like he had in 2007 that consisted of names like: Casey Fossum, Jae Seo, Brian Stokes, Ruddy Lugo, Shawn Camp, Tim Corcoran and Jay Witasick, it would be hard for anybody to succeed.

Hickey also brought a bit of heat on himself with an embarrassing DUI in October 2007. However, he later apoligized and called it a “horrible mistake“. The DUI coupled with the historically bad bullpen and an expiring contract had many, including myself, wondering aloud if he was the right fit and if the Rays should retain him. However, the Rays decided to show their faith in him and resign him after the season.  Looking at the situation now, it looks like they made the right decision.

Under Hickey’s tutelage the 2008 Rays boast a staff ERA of 3.73(4th in AL) and bullpen ERA of 3.16(2nd in AL). They are also second the majors with five shutouts, but it could be seven if not for two Troy Percival blown saves in shutout situations.  So how much of the success should we credit to Jim Hickey?

First, lets get some history on Jim hickey. Hickey, a first team All-American at the University of Texas Pan American, was a 13th round selection by the Chicago White Sox in 1983. Hickey would play for three different organizations(White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros) over the course of eight minor league seasons. He retired as a player in 1989 while a member of the Astros Double A affiliate.

Hickey would remain with the Astros as a coach for the next 16 years throughout many levels of the organization. This included seven seasons as Triple-A New Orleans pitching coach. During Hickey’s time with the team they lead the Pacific Coast League in ERA in consecutive seasons(2002,2003) and finished second in 2001, when the squad won the PCL championship. He was also named Astros Player Development Man of the Year in 2002.

He was named interim pitching coach of the MLB team in July 2004 and became the full-time coach only a few months later in October. In 2005 the Astros made it to their first World Series, mostly on the strength of their pitching staff. The ‘Stros staff boasted three starters in the Top 10 in ERA(Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt). As a staff, the team finished with a 3.51 ERA(second in the NL) and lead the league in fewest runs and walks allowed.  The staff included current Rays pitcher Dan Wheeler. 

 Wheeler had his best two professional seasons as a member of Hickey’s staff. In 2005, he posted career lows in ERA(2.21) and WHIP (0.982) as well as a career high 191 ERA+. The success continued in 2006 for Wheeler as he had a 2.52 ERA, 1.15 WHIP with a 176 ERA+ and nine saves.

Another current Rays pitcher also had a career year with Jim as his pitching coach. In 2006 Trever Miller joined the Astros staff and posted the best numbers of his career. Like Wheeler, Miller had career lows in ERA(3.02) and WHIP(1.086) and posted his best ERA+ (147).

Despite the success of Miller and Wheeler in 2006, the Astros overall had a disappointing 2006 and after the season Jim Hickey was fired. Richard Justice from the Houston Chronicle said “This organization is constantly searching for a scapegoat, and Hickey was an obvious one.” There seems to be some life to that theory because the numbers are on Hickey’s side. The Astros finished with a higher team ERA(4.08), but that was still good for second in the NL. The staff also tied the Mets for the league lead in shutouts with 12.  Tim Purpura, the Astros GM at the time, said “I don’t want to get complacent,” Purpura said. “Unfortunately, that’s at the expense of Jim.” Obviously Hickey wasn’t the only problem as both Purpura and Astros manager Phil Garner were fired less than a year later.

The Astros trash has turned out to be the Rays gold. The Rays hired Jim Hickey on November, 18 2006. At the time of the hiring Andrew Friedman said ”His experience and background in development is going to benefit our whole organization.”

While the 2007 season was a downer for the Rays pitching staff due in part to the Rays getting used to yet another pitching coach and a lack of talent, there were some signs of Hickey’s magic. James Shields went from a middle of the rotation guy to a #1 or #2. Scott Kazmir led the American League in strikeouts and Al Reyes had a career season with 26 saves.

As you can see, Hickey has a proven track record of making his staffs better and that is showing in this seasons Rays team. So to answer my question from above, I personally feel Hickey is one of the main reasons for the Rays success and he should receive more credit than he is currently given.

Yes, I know Troy Percival has been huge on and off the field and has done wonders for the team, but he’s not doing it alone. The signing of Trever Miller has also been helpful. Along with his past ties to the organization, I’m sure Andrew Friedman was aware of Miller’s 2006 success under Hickey and that must have factored in the decision to sign him. Just like when the Rays re-acquired Dan Wheeler last season, I’m sure the Rays also saw Wheeler’s success under Hickeys watch. I know Wheeler struggled here last year under Hickey, but he seems to be right back in that 2005 and 2006 form this year.

The starters are also doing a tremedous job and it probably helps them to have Hickey’s voice in their ear for more than one season. Edwin Jackson’s great starts are starting to out weigh his bad ones, and seems to finally be ”turning the corner” for real. As noted earlier, Shields has matured into an Ace in Hickeys tenure. Andy Sonnanstine has improved into a solid 4/5 starter and Matt Garza has gotten better with every start since healthy. If you need more proof just look at this past week with Scott Kazmir. After a shaky first start, Kazmir worked with Hickey on mechanics in a bullpen session. It paid off with six scoreless innings on Saturday against the Angels.

And if you still don’t want to believe me maybe you’ll listen to an expert in pitching mechanics and injuries. Baseball Prospectus senior writer Will Carroll had these words to say when we talked about Hickey. 

I asked Will if Hickey was a top five pitching coach and he replied, “I think he gets in the discussion. There’s not as much of a track record as Mazzone or Duncan so we can’t say that he’s not just getting better results with better pitchers. He did very well during his tenure in Houston as well, though again, having Clemens, Pettitte, and Oswalt doesn’t hurt. If anything, he’s shown he’s versatile and that counts. “

He also had this to say about Hickey as a developer of pitchers, “He’s certainly brought guys along and bought into the Rays system.”

And finally I asked Will if he thought players like Shields, Kazmir, etc. would be as successful if Hickey wasn’t the coach and he replied, ”Hard to say, but it seems the Rays didn’t make the WRONG decision in bringing Hickey in. “

I also had a chance to ask former Mets GM Steve Philips this question, How much of the Rays pitching success can we credit to Jim Hickey?

Phillips said “Certainly he deserves credit, but you have to credit their scouts even more. They’ve identified players to sign, players to trade for, and have targetted free agents to help their staff. They’ve been right more often than they’ve been wrong. Hickey does a fine job, but credit the scouts as well. “

That’s all I’m saying, we need to give Hickey the credit he deserves. I’m not saying that Jim Hickey can turn water into wine or walk on it for that matter. I’m just saying maybe we need to give the man a little credit for turning the Rays pitching woes upside down and into a strength in such a short time. I know this pace probably won’t last all season, but it’s working now so I’m just saying you’re doing an excellent job Jim Hickey, keep up the good work.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pm and is filed under MVN Rays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.