Last week, nobody read the recap of the Giants FanPulse voters’ 44% confidence in the team’s direction and 82% approval of Bruce Bochy’s record, so, let this week’s new polling data be your guide into the current state of the fan base:
Both confidence and approval are down one percentage point, to 43% and 81%, respectively, and I think that’s likely to change in the next round of voting. This most recent sampling was before the Giants’ run barrage of Sunday-Wednesday.
The return of Austin Slater, rise of Dickerson, and continued competency by the non-Pomeranz segment of the rotation gave the Giants a four-game winning streak. Bruce Bochy’s embrace of the good ol’ platoon might also score him some points with the voting body. But that’s all just speculation about next week. This week told another sad tale of casual indifference. The Giants weren’t worse than the previous week, but because they weren’t much better, voters just didn’t think it worth giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Giants voters have as much confidence in Bruce Bochy as Yankees voters have in Aaron Boone (81%). That’s remarkable. The Yankees are running away with the AL East, and yet Yankees fans want more. Bochy has a 4-point lead on Joe Maddon. It would seem even Cubs voters are growing weary of his antics combined with the Cubs’ underwhelming play.
I’m going to keep an eye on this Maddon total after what happened this week:
— out of context baseball (@baseballcontext) July 5, 2019
Rocco Baldelli and Chris Woodward are the only managers currently polling at 100%. There’s something kinda weird about that pair. They’re like two gritty and interlocking puzzle pieces. They’re also both first-year managers. So... good for them.
It’s important to note that this is almost certainly the kind of hire we’re going to see from the Giants this offseason: a younger guy who can more easily relate to current players yet comfortable enough with analytics and direct front office control to adapt to changing circumstances. Both men had some degree of coaching experience, of course, as base coaches and roving instructors, but neither had managed a minor league team or been a major league bench coach before landing their gigs (although Woodward did manage New Zealand’s WBC team).
While those guys are on one end of the spectrum, the Mets’ Mickey Callaway is at the other end. Very, very far down at the other end. Could it have something to do with his confrontation with a Mets beat reporter? Could it have something to do with the way he handled the aftermath of his confrontation with a Mets beat reporter? His bullpen management? His general way of being? Could be anything.
The Mets situation is bad. At least for this year, where the manager is concerned, we don’t have to worry about something like that developing over here.