San Francisco Giants: 5 Reasons Dave Righetti Is the Majors' Best Pitching Coach

No one deserved a 2010 World Series ring more than Dave Righetti.

The San Francisco Giants' pitching coach for the last decade-plus took a group of young, homegrown pitchers and molded them into the top rotation in the major leagues. While there is always room to argue for a player's innate talents versus the influence of a coach, time and time again the Giants' pitching staff has praised Righetti and cited him as a major source of their individual and collective success.

You can look at the numbers, compare results or simply watch his work unfold on the diamond, but the evidence is plentiful: Dave Righetti is the best pitching coach currently in baseball.

Here are five reasons why.

Experience on the Field

Before he was Dave Righetti, pitching coaching, he was Dave Righetti, New York Yankees All-Star hurler. 

Righetti began his career as a starting pitching by earning AL Rookie of the Year in 1981. He also helped his Yankees team reach the World Series that year, where they fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. On July 4, 1983, Righetti became the first Yankees pitcher since Don Larsen to pitch a no-hitter, blanking the Red Sox.

It was the first no-hitter by a left-handed Yankees pitcher in almost 70 years.

In 1984, Righetti was moved to the bullpen, where he replaced Goose Gossage as the team's closer. He would average 32 saves a season for the next seven years, make two All-Star appearances and be selected as the AL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year in back-to-back seasons.

Righetti is thus uniquely positioned with an expertise both as a starter and a reliever. Certainly many pitchers go from the starting five to the 'pen during their tenure, but few will excel at both to the extent Rags did.

Few coaches can approach both Tim Lincecum and Brian Wilson and truthfully say, "I've been in your shoes." 

Righetti can. 

Home Run/Flyball Rate

As with most baseball statistics, the reliability of the HR/FB rate remains up for debate. 

Leave it up to the math wizards over at Fangraphs to create a regression model that uses expected home run rate as a basis by which to predict the effectiveness of a pitching coach in preventing home runs. 

Using four pitching coaches tenured to a single team from 2002 to 2010, Fangrapher Jesse Wolfersberger proved that Righetti is an outlier in his success rate at stopping the long ball. He writes:

"

For the most part, the model splits each coach’s qualified pitchers in half between those who outperformed their expected HR/FB rate and those who underperformed their projection. Righetti is the only exception.

Of the 44 qualifying pitcher-years in Righetti’s reign with the Giants, 38 had a lower HR/FB rate than the model predicted. Considering none of these other coaches had even 60-percent of their pitchers fall on one side or the other, Righetti’s 86-percent rate of starters outperforming their expected HR/FB is simply stunning.

"

Scott Willist of Crazy Crabbers did some theoretical math that pays out to Righetti's teachings having a "value" (in terms of the fiscal worth of a win) of $110 million to the Giants' organization.

Accolades and Hardware

In baseball, it's all about the bling.

Dave Righetti has his share.

Without intending to co-op the achievements of players under Righetti's guidance, it would be foolish to disregard a coach's impact on performance. Thus, Righetti's presence as a coach can be directly tied to many accolades bestowed on San Francisco Giants' pitchers during his tenure.

These include:

• Two NL CY Young Awards (Lincecum '08, Lincecum '09)
• Rookie of the Year Award (Posey '10)
• MLB Strikeout Champion (Lincecum '08)
• MLB Saves Champion (Wilson '10)
• World Series Championship (2010)

The most remarkable feats in the list above would appear to be Tim Lincecum's back-to-back Cy Young awards and winning the World Series in 2010. But with a discerning eye, the diversity of the other achievements listed becomes clear.

For a catcher to win Rookie of the Year, he must both demonstrate offensive strength and skills behind the backstop. Anyone who thinks Dave Righetti didn't have a hand in Buster Posey's maturation as a catcher is crazy.

Then there's Brian Wilson's 48 saves in 2010. Righetti's success extends beyond the starting starters, to a bullpen laden with talent, which brings us to No. 4.

Seeing Beyond the Rotation

Oftentimes, pitching coaches seem directly tied to their starters. In actuality, the members of the bullpen require just as many of a coach's resources.

One of the reasons Dave Righetti has fostered such an impressive pitching staff on the San Francisco Giants is the attention he pays the relief corps. Headlined by All-star closer Brian Wilson, the Giants' bullpen is one of the best in baseball.

With a team like the Giants, even dominant performances from starters can result in one or two runs games. A glaring lack of offense produced numerous situations in 2011 where a strong start from Madison Bumgarner or Matt Cain was at risk of becoming a loss if not for the bullpen's efforts.

Righett is a true double threat, bringing his experience as a closer alongside his appreciation for the nuances of a bullpen arm. Pitchers like Javier Lopez, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo have all seen their careers flourish under the guidance of Righetti and his staff.

Respect for His Players

A coach is nothing without the respect of his players.

As the tried and true logic says, the best way to earn respect is to give it. Of countless examples, there is one story that stands out as perfect example of Righetti's class and faith in his players.

In 2006, rookie infielder Kevin Frandsen opened his locker to  find a jersey with the No. 19 under his name. The number belonged to Dave Righetti, who wore it when pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees, and subsequently for the six years he had been employed with Giants.

As Henry Shulman writes, the No. 19 held significance outside of the diamond: "Dave's father, Leo, a fine ballplayer in his own right, died on the 19th of the month. His 14-year-old triplets, Nicolette, Natalee and Wesley, were born on the 19th."

But Frandsen's late brother DJ had also found special meaning in 19. DJ was a big Righetti fan, and subsequently gravitated to the pitcher's jersey number. DJ succumbed to cancer after battling it for most of his life—specifically, 19 years.

Jersey numbers are no small thing. Oftentimes players buy or earn their way to specific digits, like when Carlos Beltran offered manager Bruce Bochy a Rolex to take 15 off his hands (via SF Gate). For Righetti to want to honor Frandsen by giving him the number he wore as a pitcher is the ultimate show of respect.

His players have responded in-kind. For as long as Dave Righetti stalks the Giants' dugout, he will stand as the best pitching coach in the game.