Stop relying so much on analytics.
That’s the message from former Yankee Clint Frazier to the team, suggesting this could be the key to breaking their 16-year World Series drought.
“If this F-King Analytical Car drives it, they won’t win the World Series. They won’t,” Frazier said during an episode of his “Life After the Show” podcast.
He believes their reliance on certain strategies, which diverge from what worked during the regular season, is a big part of the problem. “They’re making these cute and crazy moves,” he added.
This raises questions about the Yankees’ single World Series victory in the last 16 years, and many point to their analytical methods as a potential reason.
I mean, it’s generally acknowledged that analytics can be useful for teams, yet some are concerned that the Yankees might be leaning too much on them—or perhaps misinterpreting their data.
Frazier, who played for the Yankees between 2017 and 2021 and has been vocal about his critiques since leaving, pointed to Game 2 of the 2020 ALDS as a case in point.
In that game, the Yankees took a 1-0 series lead but started rookie Deivi Garcia only to switch to veteran JA Happ, who ultimately struggled in a 7-5 defeat. They ended up losing the series in five games.
“During the 2020 playoffs against the Rays, Garcia suggested he’d take the mound because, well, the Rays are another analytics team and would have a lineup filled with left-handed hitters,” Frazier recalled. “The idea was to coax the Rays into a trap, but it didn’t work out that way.”
Frazier mentioned that the players felt quite invested after all that hard work during the season, noting it seemed shortsighted to divert from their successful methods. “If they keep that up, they won’t win in the playoffs,” he remarked.
The discussion about the Yankees’ analytical reliance remains ongoing—will they change their approach, or will a title be necessary for them to reconsider their strategies?
