Yankees Next Pitching Coach Should Be David Cone

David Cone is currently a color commentator for the Yankees on the YES Network. While listening to him during the recent Royals series, it’s profoundly apparent, his true talents are being wasted.

In 17 MLB seasons, David Cone was a five-time World Series Champion, a five-time All-Star, and the 1994 AL Cy Young Award winner.

At the age of 40, Cone wrapped up his stellar career, which saw him don five different uniforms, to the tune of 196 wins, a 3.46 ERA, and a total 2,688 strikeouts for 22nd all-time. Though Cone’s most dominant seasons came as a member of the New York Mets (81-51, with a 3.13 ERA in seven seasons), four of his five championship rings came courtesy of the Yankees.

We’re taking this stroll down memory lane to as to recall just how good Cone was, because while listening to him do color commentary during the recent Yankees vs. Royals series, it became immediately obvious that Cone should be named the new pitching coach of the Yankees for 2017.

This has nothing to do with sabotaging the job Larry Rothschild has done this season, rather it’s a testament to just how valuable adding Cone to the organization, in a player development/guidance/mentor role would be.

Does he have any interest in potentially taking over said role? I have no idea, but I’d surely hope so because that baseball encyclopedia brain of his would do so much good for a Yankees pitching staff that has way more question marks than answers.

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It’s unreal, just how articulate Cone is in his approach when it comes to speaking about the nuances of pitching. He can go off on a tangent about how pitchers these days are too concerned about pitching within a sequence, throwing strikes while working up the ladder, that you the viewer, almost forget about the action unfolding on your TV.

During Tuesday night’s rain delay in Kansas City, Cone spoke to the importance of the overall development of Gary Sanchez‘s defensive game. Sure, he could have pointed out the obvious, like Sanchez’s plus arm, but instead, he focused on his refinement in calling pitches; the way he subtly frames balls on the outside corner. Things that you don’t normally see from a 23-year-old with just 16 Major League games behind the plate.

Cone is perfectly suited for the role of Yankees pitching coach because he combines the best of both worlds. He’s a self-proclaimed Sabermatrician but understands that the look and feel of a pitcher in a particular situation dictates more than numbers ever should. This goes back to the man being a certified Grade-A shooter himself.

You see, he pitched in the days before pitch counts and five days rest; when starting pitchers weren’t being babied in the minor leagues as to keep their confidence at an all-time high. Just listen to the way Cone makes total and complete sense about Luis Severino; how it would serve Severino better in the long term, to be pitching out of the big league bullpen, rather than down in Triple-A, hoping to find the command of his still evolving changeup.

Even in the linked video, Cone, with sly grin in tow “suggests” that the Yankees should implore Severino to work on a different grip, in hopes of commanding that new third pitch.

The biggest plus for Cone getting the Yankees’ pitching coach job, if and when it becomes available, is his unabashed personality. This is a man, though in his early 50’s, can relate to a younger generation, not only through Youtube clips of his past heroics, but with the use of flamboyant humor, a vivid vocabulary, and the fact that he overcame most every obstacle a young player may face; both on and off the field of play.

Next: Severino Would Bolster the Bullpen Now

If the Yankees do decide to make a change in regards to the team’s pitching coach, I really hope they at the very least, sit down and listen to what David Cone feels he could bring to the position; you know, because he makes total sense.