When Mike Matheny was hired to replace Ned Yost in the dugout, it was not without controversy. The former pennant-winning manager of the Cardinals won 55 percent of his games in St. Louis, but it ended poorly with claims of clubhouse dissension and an alleged hazing incident.
Matheny came to Kansas City looking to learn from some of his mistakes in St. Louis and talked about learning analytics, building relationships with players, and having a better rapport with the media. Let’s take a look at how he’s done.
Lineup construction
Matheny has taken a more analytical approach to building a lineup, frequently batting slow-footed Carlos Santana in the #2 hole because of his high on-base percentage.