Cardinals Horrible Moves: Hiring Dusty Blake as pitching coach
When Mike Maddux announced he would not return to be closer to family in the Dallas - Fort Worth area, it was assumed the Cardinals would get a pitching coach to help a struggling staff.
Before working in the analytics department for the Cardinals, Dusty Blake was a college-level coach. While in the analytics department, he gained insight on best explaining to pitchers how the analytical information they gather can best apply to them.
Sounds excellent and precisely what Mozeliak probably wanted for the pitching staff. But having someone with some actual big-league experience for insight is also a great idea. When it came to those big league, high-stress moments early in the season - and remember, there were quite a few - Blake looked overwhelmed, which led to some unnecessary drama. It's easy to see that part of the blame Willson Contreras received at the first of the year for not being precisely like Yadier Molina could be attributed to Blake being new to the job. Neither Blake nor Contreras were put in an extraordinary situation.
While Blake had considerable positive growth as the season went along, it's easy to see he wasn't the right pick for the job. He's a great analyst and would do well as an assistant coach. It will not be shocking to see him reassigned within the club. If he wants the job, it would be awesome to see the team hire someone like Chris Carpenter as the pitching coach.