Schlittler arrived from Northeastern University with several red flags: He had trouble putting on weight and adding velocity. His mechanics were a mess. And his pitch mix needed an entire makeover, all the way through the Yankees system.
Thanks to the infrastructure the Yankees had in place, there was an answer for it all.
In an industry as volatile as baseball, continuity is elusive. Less than one-fourth through this season, two managers have already been fired. Support staff like pitching and hitting coaches are viewed as fungible should a rough patch come up during the season.
And from October through January, the annual ritual of expunging and recycling scouts, coaches, and other non-executive personnel is the sport’s grimmest ritual.
Under George Steinbrenner, Yankee managerial instability was legend. In this era, though, the executives responsible for funneling players to the majors are as entrenched as the plaques in Monument Park.
Damon Oppenheimer, the club’s vice president of amateur scouting, has been with the club 34 years, and has run their amateur draft since 2005. Kevin Reese, the VP of player development, is in his 19th season as a scout or front office member and ninth year heading up player development.
While the phalanx of scouts, coaches and quants beneath them may rotate, continuity at the top shows up when the next rookie is ready for pinstripes.
At 27-16, the Yankees are once again on track for more than 90 wins and a 10th playoff berth in 12 seasons.
“It’s been really good, especially lately,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone tells USA TODAY Sports. “We’ve done a really good job the last four and five years developmentally, getting better and better on the pitching and position player side of things.