Jays starter Berrios struggling with his command

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Baseball is a funny game. 

When I was a general manager in Major League Baseball, I learned that I could never assume anything. 

During any given season, there were certainly some pleasant surprises where players exceeded my expectations. I loved those moments. 

Some players perform to the level that I expected. I needed that. As a GM, I craved predictability. I wanted the players to perform as I expected. It made planning so much easier.

On occasion, there were players who significantly underperformed expectations. Those are the ones that give general managers white hair – or at least they gave it to me. 

General managers are humans, and we ride a wave of emotions just like fans do. We just never talk about it publicly. When my players struggled unexpectedly, I would feel anger toward them. I once heard someone say, “Expectations are preconceived resentments.” I completely get it.  Once I created an expectation, it was a setup to potentially be disappointed. How dare the player not live up to my expectations?

When players struggle, they are more upset than I or any fan could be. Players hate failure. They take it to heart and desperately want to change boos to cheers. It did no good for me to share my frustration. Instead, I spewed confidence and optimism. I sought answers on behalf of the players through coaches, trainers, strength coaches, mental health coaches, etc. I wanted to always make sure the organization was giving the players every bit of support to overcome the struggle. 

Watching Toronto Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios this year has been painful. 

I don’t feel anger because he isn’t my struggling pitcher. But I’m sure Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has had his