I'm very impressed with Nick Leyva.

[billyhallfan]

I know that a third base coach isn't noticed until he makes a mistake. But I can't think of one instance all year where I shake my head because someone got thrown out at home. Svuem was absolutly horrible last year, he arguably hurt Hardy against Philadelphia. Leyva, IMO has done as good of a job as possible. He tests the outfield when he has to, but he also holds them when it is the right thing to do. Leyva has managerial experience, and I might be comfortable with him as the manager. I don't know what the players think of him, but I think that he has done an awesome job.

 

just my opinion.

[RightFieldCoder]

Good call. A good 3rd base coach is never noticed. I remember seeing Johnny the Anchor being sent home and thrown out, but Leyva probably figured Johnny would be able to at least get faster than a jog. Kudos to Leyva for a good season.

[Patrick425]

Your absolutley right. Leyva has done such a good job this year that I have hardly even noticed him. And, yes, Svuem has misserable last year.

 

I was at last nights game and there were a couple of times where Leyva smartly held up the runner at 3rd with no on out, something that was not always done last year.

[patrickgpe]

yeah it definitely has been an upgrade to svuen, who got thrown out of boston for his work as the 3rd base coach, and then Ned brought him here.

[Fatter than Joey]

yeah it definitely has been an upgrade to svuen, who got thrown out of boston for his work as the 3rd base coach

 

Yep. Leyva has done better. Leyva was a pretty unspectacular manager in Philly, if Ned were to be fired, I am not sure I would want him to be our manager

[billyhallfan]

I was at last nights game and there were a couple of times where Leyva smartly held up the runner at 3rd with no on out, something that was not always done last year.

 

ya patrick, i was there too, and I thought while it was happening, that those were great moves and he didn't even get noticed, and i think every time they held up a runner they scored, except once when there were no outs and jenkins, hall, and miller all k'd.

[dlk9s]

But I can't think of one instance all year where I shake my head because someone got thrown out at home.

he win against Hudson the other day. Bases loaded, Bill Hall rips a single to right, Leyva sends Jenkins from second. Horrible idea considering the ball was hit hard, was in shallow right, and the right fielder was Francoeur.

Really, I'm just being a nit. He has done a very good job.

[Fear The Chorizo]

In the situation that Jenkins got thrown out at the plate, there were 2 outs in the inning, and Milwaukee had already grabbed a 2-run lead late. It was absolutely the right move to force Francoeur to make the play - even though 80% of the time he makes it, that situation is a time when it's ok to be overly aggresive.

[bacon06]

I completely forget who Nick Leyva was until I read this. He must be good because I haven't noticed him.

[JohnBriggs12]

A couple plays that occurred at games I attended where he should have sent the runner but didn't.

 

Memorial Day, Estrada on 2nd, two outs, Capuano bloops one to short LF which drops and gets away from SS. Leyva holds him at 3B. Granted is was Estrada, so I'll give him a pass. They lost that day 2-1.

 

July 17th vs. D-Backs, Hardy on 1st, two outs. Fielder rips a double into RF corner. Hardy touches third before the relay throw has reached the 2nd baseman who is out in almost medium deep RF with his back to the play. Leyva inexplicably throws up the stop sign (two outs mind you), when it would have taken an absolute perfect throw just to have a chance to get him.

 

Overall though, solid job.

[kgbaseball]

What I look for in a 3rd base coach is what I look for in umpires; if you can't tell they're there, they're doing their job correctly.

 

EDIT: Did I just fit all 3 variations of "there" into a 4 word stretch?

[paulmolitor4]

First of all, let me preface this by saying I do believe that Leyva has done a good job... but many coaches in baseball will tell you if a third base coach rarely ever has runners thrown out at the plate that he is not doing a good job. The idea being that he is not being aggressive enough. Statistically speaking you should be sending a runner home from third with two outs even if you believe he only has somewhere around a 35% chance to score. This is taking into account the fact that the next hitter will get out approximately 65% of the time. It's not simply a bad decision to send a runner home, just because the runner is thrown out at the plate. Certain situations call for you to put pressure on the defense.

[dadofandrew]

PM is right on the money. I do not have any problem with Nick, but rarely recall Dale taking many risks with less than 2 outs either.

[PlayerHader]

What I look for in a 3rd base coach is what I look for in umpires; if you can't tell they're there, they're doing their job correctly.

 

EDIT: Did I just fit all 3 variations of "there" into a 4 word stretch?

 

Nope...

If you can't tell they're there, their job was well done.

But I just did! http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smokin.gif

[valpocrewsader]

I have no idea how to accurately judge a 3B coach based on just attending a dozen games and watching another 80-100 on TV. Seems like you could be labeled "good" simply by holding up an inordinate number of runners. When you see a runner get thrown out, it can be pretty clear that the 3B coach screwed up, but when a runner gets held up that should've scored, it's almost impossible to know. I agree about Leyva being an upgrade, but it feels like we hold up a lot of runners to me.

[mothershipconnection]

A couple plays that occurred at games I attended where he should have sent the runner but didn't.

 

I haven't watched enough to notice, but that's always been my problem with the philosophy that good base coaches are the ones you don't notice. You could easily be crappy in that you're too conservative. It's kinda like they say you know an NFL lineman is good if you don't notice him, which probably most accurately just tells you he's not crappy and not that he's good.