Eric SorensonAs the saying goes, “it takes one to know one.”
Judging from the comments of the World Series-winning manager, Arizona Diamondbacks first-year skipper Chip Hale has certainly passed the test working with a team many feel had little or no chance to compete in the National League.
Sure the 23-27 record heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Braves isn’t sexy but Hale is doing more with less while keeping the D-backs competitive, even in losses.
“The bottom line for a manager is you try to put players in position where they have the best possible chances to succeed,” Fox Sports Arizona Diamondbacks analyst and 2001 WS Champion manager Bob Brenly told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat in a phone interview Tuesday morning. “So far for me Chip has done everything the way I would have done it…I think he has done an outstanding job.”
Hale and his staff have had to work short-handed at times with player injuries and struggles of key pieces like one-time closer Addison Reed and recently slumping Archie Bradley but the D-backs continue to carry intrigue on the field, something they lacked last summer after starting the season 5-18 and sputtering to a 64-98 mark.
“He’s been around the game for a long time in a variety of different roles,” Brenly said to Cesmat. “The more experiences you have the easier it is to make those decisions and be confident in those decisions. Chip has been around the block.”
Despite never leading an MLB team Hale was a bench coach, position coach and minor league manager where he learned the ropes of balancing lineups, pitching staffs and even egos which Brenly said greatly helped the learning curve since being hired last off-season. It also didn’t hurt he was utilized in a number of different roles during his playing days with the Twins and Dodgers in the 1990’s.
“He’s seen this game from just about every different angle,” he explained. “More often than not he’s made the right decisions.”
