Dont be done I appreciate your perspective. I have really tried to tamp down the Torey stuff
I've had the discussion with a few other (not residents of this whacky neighborhood) former players.. Guys who have played college ball, post-college ball and a former NFL player, about the challenges of getting into debates, especially online, with those who never played at higher than high school level athletics.
Not at all suggesting only former players' insight is of value. In fact, quite often I find myself looking differently at a situation as a result of comments made by someone who might've never even played a team sport at all. But as a former player, it's hard not to become entrenched in certain thoughts, particularly those that as a former player, seem so crystal clear and yet, others see the issue 180 degrees differently.
Specific to Torey, or most other managers, for me and many other former players, when shots are incessantly fired in shotgun style, it's extremely challenging. Every MLB manager makes both good & bad decisions in virtually every game. The hope is that the decisions made by the manager of the team you support, more often than not, result in positive outcomes. But of course, the results of these manager decisions are rarely, if ever the sole result of the manager's effectiveness, or lack thereof. More often, results of decisions made by a manager involve a host of other dynamics, such as: overall roster talent, player availability, General Manager decision-making, Ownership decision-making, coaches, trainers, Player's ability to put into play that which they're being taught, etc., etc., etc...
Torey is far from perfect. As I said, he's no different than every other MLB manager in that, each game he's "The Guy" who is ultimately making the call, the decision and then absorbs the pats on the back, or the kick in the ass.
IMHO, Torey excels in terms of his relational connections with the players, all of whom routinely express how much they love playing for him. It's always been my own personal experience that this aspect of managing is 80% of the battle! While certain jackasses have had success as a manager (Billy Martin for example), more often than not it's managers that strongly check this box who ultimately enjoy more success than failure as a MLB manager.
The remaining 20% requires deft instinct relative to decision-making... knowing what levers to pull and when, as well as managing, mentoring and instructing his own coaching staff.
I am 100% certain that had Burnes, Puk and JMart all remained healthy, the Torey bashing would be far less...And while injuries simply can't be used as an excuse (and I've never heard Torey even remotely lean in that direction), the reality is this Dbacks team was not built to withstand these losses. The Shelby Miller signing has proven to be an amazing move. Somehow grabbing Beeks off the scrap-heap was another tremendous move. Morillo is showing glimpses of a pitcher that could turn into a reliable late-inning stud. Backhus is also an interesting middle-inning prospect. But none of these dudes are proven in the roles they are presently filling...certainly none are all-star quality. Scott is serviceable, but not reliable. And of course, we remain stuck with the likes of Ginkel & Thompson who have clearly seen their best days at the MLB level.
Gallen is scuffling... as is Pfaadt. Nelson is serviceable. Same for E-Rod(though grossly overpaid IMHO). Kelly is our #1 and thankfully has been good to great more often than not this year.
Offensively, Gurriel, Thomas and the Catcher spot are truly killing this team. However, scoring has rarely been the issue. Hard to get into a discussion about the offense when our pitching is so horrific.
In short, I believe the ridiculous attacks on Torey are just that, ridiculous... The man leads a team that is simply not at the talent and quality level required to compete in the NL, especially the NL West. Sans injuries, I believe we'd be within a few games of the Dodgers and in a heated battle with the Padres and Giants. But using glue and duct-tape will not be a winning strategy in the end. In fact, I'd be shocked if this team won more than 81/82 games this year...