r/MiamiMarlins • u/TealandBlackForever Marlins • 6d ago
HYPE A Clayton McCullough Appreciation Thread!
Now that 2026 has come to a close, I think it's important to acknowledge what a terrific job Clayton McCullough did this season. He would have been a shoe-in for MOY had the Marlins not collapsed and actually made the postseason after a hot first half.
It's important to acknowledge what being a big league manager entails these days in a very analytics age. As Christina De Nicola and others have acknowledged, the manager is more of a collaborator than a unilateral decision maker. Clayton enters every game with a blue print or sketch in mind, based on the prior input of the analytics and other baseball operations staff, about starting line-ups, reliever pockets, and pinch hitting match-ups. There's a plan ahead of time for tons of "what if?" scenarios.
All things considered, he seemed to execute these daily "plans" hashed out before each game with a lot of fluidity. It's a lot to navigate between injury risks, rest, work loads, positional changes, needing to evaluate players, lefty/righty splits, and I think he did a great job. Not perfect, certainly, but no manager ever is.
On top of this, the clubhouse vibes seem to be very strong, which is perhaps one of the biggest things he's in charge of.
I hope his option is picked up for next year.
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u/breezy3072 6d ago
He pulled Eury during a perfect game. Donny and skip were both miles ahead of this bozo
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u/Responsible_Virus239 6d ago
Well Eury was coming of an injury and it hit his pitch count even Eury agreed it was the right call
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u/CandleOk436 Marlins 6d ago
Donny would've taken Eury out(he's taken out others during No Hitters). Skip, unsure.
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u/TealandBlackForever Marlins 6d ago
Dave Roberts did this, too, and he's going to be in the Hall of Fame
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u/FreakySax305 Tommy Hutton 6d ago
I actually think he’s done an alright job. We all know he’s handcuffed by the roster and analytics, hopefully Bendix and Co can trust him a little bit to make more decisions based on feel rather than a soulless machines output
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u/mtbeach33 <3 Jose 6d ago
Terrific? No. Overhated? Absolutely.
It’s no coincidence that the people who know the least about baseball are the ones pinning all of the failures and none of the success on McCullough
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u/theStripedMarlin Marlins 6d ago
I like the guy as a person and do agree he's a great clubhouse coach. I'm not convinced he has a high baseball IQ though. Even if he does the Bendix system does not fit this strength anyway. I'm not a fan of our pitching coach, Moskos. Calling pitches from the dugout and his demeanor visiting the mound doesn't pass the eye test for me.
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u/FreshFish_305 6d ago
I don't know if "appreciation" is right for how I feel, but most of the reflexive CMC hatred in here is dismissible at best. He's made some questionable decisions during games I've been at where I just can't wrap my head around it. But he's the manager during every great game they've played, was the manager during the entire hot streak, and under his management the team has now improved two years in a row. We had a +92 run differential improvement this year!! -89 to +3. First season to end with a positive RD in 16 years. That is a huge part of making an actual contender, not fluking into the wild card with the worst postseason RD in MLB history like the 2023 team.
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u/TealandBlackForever Marlins 6d ago
Craig Mish said something recently that's interesting. He himself has questioned managerial decisions during the game. But when he asked Clayton afterwards about them, and Clayton explained the thought process and reasoning, Mish was convinced most of the time they were the "right" decisions even if they didn't always work out.
Not saying you, but people in this sub hate on analytics a shocking amount, even though they were instrumental in making the Rays a 98-win team this season. Many people here struggle with wrapping their heads around basic logistics like righty/lefty splits or even work load management. The point being, the majority of those in-game decisions reflect top-down organizational strategy, and are hashed out before the first pitch is thrown.
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u/Jonjon428 Marlins 6d ago
I am both annoyed and also impressed by him. He is an enigma to me. Give him some better players though, jeez
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u/RobEatsPie 6d ago
For a 1st season I’d say he overachieved with this team. I follow my hometown Orioles and can tell you their rookie manager Albernaz made a ton more obvious mistakes than Clayton. The fact that you don’t notice him is an indicator he’s doing a good job. He won 80 games with a sub $80mil payroll, and they were fun to watch this year. Give this dude some payroll, add a few strategic veterans and they could be a 90 win team.
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u/WhatsHisFace6423 6d ago
F that. Team won in spite of an incompetent clown at manager