If you’re a regular reader here, you know what we think of MLB Manager Bruce Bochy; there’s no need to rehash it here. Yet of course there will be people out there who refuse to accept data and facts, so we want to post this for the historical record: a comparison of the stark, sudden improvements under Bochy by former San Diego Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti and current Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. Check.

Caminiti played 8 seasons with the Houston Astros, peaking in his final year there with an .847 OPS at age 31. He then joined the Padres, who had just hired Bochy to his first MLB managerial gig. Within two years, Caminiti’s OPS jumped to 1.028—and we know why, sadly. Bochy didn’t stop him. The third baseman’s OPS+ mark also leapt from 123 at age 31 to 174 at age 33, and his batting average jumped 43 points as well. Suspect.

Seager played 7 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (.870 OPS through age 27) and 1 year with the Rangers (.772 OPS) before Bochy arrived as the manager before this season in Texas. In one of the more amazing single-season turnarounds in recent memory, Seager posted the best numbers of his career in both straight OPS (1.013) and OPS+ (170). His OPS+ last year in Texas without Bochy was merely 117. Hmmm.

This may be a coincidence, but we don’t think it is when taken in context with plenty of other statistical data and evidence. Bochy isn’t some sort of wizard; he’s a sub-.500 manager over almost 4,200 regular-season games in his MLB managerial career. Seager’s 131 OPS+ in 7 years with the Dodgers—a team with a top-notch staff, as evidenced by the 11 straight postseasons the team now has qualified. He was good, but that’s all.

Seager actually got worse, of course, his first year in Texas (2022) at age 28. Maybe it was an anomaly; maybe he was hurt. We’ve seen a lot of this kind of “recovery” in our analyses of players in Boston and San Francisco under PED-friendly regimes, regardless of why the regression happened in the first place. Considering Seager moved from a pitcher’s park in L.A. to a hitter’s park in Texas, it’s odd he was so bad.

So, likewise, it’s very suspect that suddenly he got so good with the Rangers in 2023. He’s not the only one on the Texas roster who experienced a sudden turnaround under Bochy—akin to the significant improvement that Caminiti showed under his new manager in San Diego almost 30 years ago. You can review all the seasons Bochy was in San Francisco here, too, as we’ve done the analytical survey there. The guy is dirty.

Seager is basically the new Caminiti, and certainly not enough people are making the connection. That’s why we’re here—although we’re guessing enough people nationally have plenty figured out for them to stay away from the TV broadcast of the World Series in droves. This was the worst TV ratings for the Fall Classic ever. We suspect more and more people will stay away from this dirty sport until it cleans its act up, period.