Staff’s Struggles Doomed St. Claire – The Post
Nationals fire pitching coach – The Wash. Times
After seven years, the Nationals fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire. The pitching staff had not been performing this season or last, but he was given very little to work with by management. This move only makes sense if they feel his replacement, Steve McCatty, up from AAA Syracuse, is the answer for the long haul and it appears that they might. Whereas St. Claire was a new school pitching coach dedicated to video and mechanics, McCatty is apparently and old school type who goes more by feel. That is not exactly reassuring since wounds from “going by his gut” hitting coach Lenny Harris are still fresh.
You can’t make the argument that St. Claire has really developed anyone into a superstar or even 15 game winner in a long time, but if not for constant injuries to starters like John Patterson and Shawn Hill, he very well may have pulled it off. His work with ¡LIVAN! was quite good though the Nats no longer get anything out of it. Well, until Matt Chico returns and Garrett Mock puts it together. In short, those are the kind of guys that St. Claire was having to work with over the years. St. Claire’s current record is incomplete — John Lannan is very much a work in progress, but a promising one, as is Jordan Zimmermann. Shairon Martis, Ross Detwiler and Craig Stammen are out there too.
I would have fired the bullpen coach long before St. Claire. Probably the manager too. Speaking of, Manny Acta seems realize he is probably getting fired, saying “we’re hired to be fired” an old Yogi Berra line. GM Mike Rizzo is not impressing me of late, but I think the job is his to lose at this point.
St. Claire deserved better and will almost certainly get it in his next job.
