Bruce Bochy has led the San Francisco Giants to three World Series appearances since 2010. They were victorious in 2010 and 2012 over the Rangers and Tigers, and will now face the Royals in 2014. If they win, where will Bochy rank among the best managers?
Although Bochy is now a Giants icon, his managerial career began with the San Diego Padres back in 1995. He spent 12 years there, compiling a 951-975 record with an 8-16 record in the postseason, including a World Series appearance in 1998. In the other three playoff appearances for the San Diego, Bochy and the Padres didn't make it past the NLDS, losing a combined nine games to one.
But things have changed since the veteran manager joined San Francisco. He was hired in 2007 and missed the playoffs in his first three seasons. But then came 2010, and since that year Bochy has amassed an unbelievable 30-11 postseason record with San Francisco, including two World Series championships and three National League championships. He's undefeated in postseason series with the Giants and improved his overall postseason record to 38-27. His .732 winning percentage in the playoffs with the Giants is unheard of and his overall postseason .585 winning percentage is notable as well.
If Bochy can win the 2014 World Series, he will become the 10th manager in baseball history to have three championships, joining Hall of Fame managers Joe McCarthy (7), Casey Stengel (7), Connie Mack (5), Walter Alston (4), Joe Torre (4), Sparky Anderson (3), Miller Huggins (3), Tony La Russa (3) and John McGraw (3). Right now, only McCarthy (.667), Anderson (.618), Stengel (.587) and Torre (.592) have better postseason winning percentages than Bochy, but that can (and will likely) change after this upcoming series and beyond.
If the Giants and Bochy were to sweep the Royals - which isn't out of the question because they swept the Tigers in 2012 and defeated the Rangers 4-1 in 2010 - his postseason winning percentage would jump to .609, putting him ahead of Stengel and Torre. Aside from Torre and La Russa, Bochy has the most postseason games under his belt out of these top managers and he's still nine years behind Torre and 13 behind La Russa, so his numbers are looking up from here.
This Giants team is built around starter Madison Bumgarner (24 years old) and catcher Buster Posey (27) who have proven to be postseason juggernauts. They're joined by first baseman Brandon Belt (26) and second baseman Joe Panik (24). Their farm system had the second best winning percentage among all the major league teams and were only beaten out by the Houston Astros.
But that's beside the point, only to make a case for Bochy's future with the Giants.
The fact that Bochy has gotten his players ready for playoff baseball is perhaps one of the more impressive aspects of his managerial success. He also seems to make the right decisions when the postseason comes around.
"Anytime Boch has a group that believes, you'll see he's really good at putting guys in situations where they're comfortable," said starter Jake Peavy, in this ESPN article. "He puts them where they believe they can succeed, and where he believes they can succeed. You check your ego at the door."
"In October, I see a lot of stuff he does in April, May and June," added third-base coach Tim Flannery, who has worked with Bochy for years. "Early in the season, the fans will be booing him because he'll stick with a guy too long or something. Some of them will yell into our dugout: 'Oh, come on! You still got a chance to win the wild card!' But he's getting them ready for this."
Ready "for this" is the key to the team's success. Let's rewind back to 2010. San Francisco had the 17th ranked offense in the MLB in terms of runs scored (697) and the top-ranked pitching with a 3.36 ERA and 57 saves during the regular season. The hitting stayed consistent throughout the postseason, as the team batted .235 with 13 home runs and 59 runs scored. They also led postseason teams with a .267 batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP) and an even more impressive .315 average (1st) and .439 on-base percentage (1st) with RISP with two outs. The starting rotation stayed strong, posting eight wins with a 2.23 ERA (both first among all playoff teams) and a .194 opposing batting average (2nd). The bullpen was solid as well (3.05 ERA and .200 opposing batting average) and had the most saves with six. The team went 11-4 en route to their World Series victory over the Rangers.
Moving on to 2012. The Giants improved to the 12th-best offense in the league (718 runs scored) and a .269 team batting average during the regular season. The pitching dropped off a bit, compiling a 3.68 ERA (7th) and 51 saves (3rd). Their postseason hitting led the 10 playoff teams with 69 runs scored and 14 home runs. They continued their success with runners in scoring position, batting .254 (4th) with 47 RBIs (1st) and a .341 on-base percentage (2nd). They struck again with RISP with two outs, scoring 21 runs (1st) thanks to a .233 batting average (1st among teams with at least 10 at-bats) and a .324 on-base percentage (2nd). The starting pitching won a postseason-high eight games in addition to a 3.19 ERA and a .240 opposing batting average, which were both in the middle of the pack. The bullpen once again performed well, notching a 3-0 record (T-1st) and four saves (1st) with a 2.35 ERA (3rd among those who got beyond the wild-card round) and a .180 opposing batting average (1st). They went 11-5 and swept the Tigers in the World Series.
This is no coincidence. As Peavy noted, Bochy knows his players' limitations and knows where they'll thrive. Take, for example, the Giants' bullpen stats this postseason. They lead all playoff teams with a 1.78 ERA and a .164 opposing batting average. Their five saves, five wins and 30 strikeouts rank second. Besides discipline, that's mainly a result of Bochy knowing when to put in certain pitchers. These stats aren't too far off from the bullpen's 3.01 ERA and .217 opposing batting average during the regular season. The common denominator here is that Bochy prepares his team for the playoffs and it has shown in the their past three postseason appearances.
We don't have to go over the rest of the 2014 pitching or batting statistics, because as you can imagine, they're similar to the consistency epitomized in 2010 and 2012. And if the Giants can continue their consistent play, they'll have an excellent chance of winning the 2014 World Series, which will thrust Bochy further into baseball's record books.
