At a time when most teams across professional sports are embracing analytics, New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway made it clear that much of his decision-making goes against the data.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Callaway indicated that he rarely uses the increasingly popular data and instead more often makes his own decisions.
If 85 percent of Callaway’s decisions this season have gone against analytics, it explains why the Mets are outside of the playoff hunt. New York’s skipper continues to rely on closer Edwin Diaz in the most critical situations despite holding a 5.60 ERA this season with a 1.47 WHIP and five blown saves.
As The Eagle-Tribune‘s Chris Mason points out, perhaps Callaway needs to change his tune if he wants to experience success. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox embrace analytics and factor them into their in-game decisions on a regular basis, they are also the only three teams to appear in the World Series in the past two years.
Callaway’s contradiction in his quote about going against analytics most of the time while also talking about how things should be equal further exposes New York’s issues.
There’s nothing wrong with a manager trusting his players in certain situations, but if Callaway continues to ignore proven data 85 percent of the time than he might become the next statistic of managers to be fired.