Matt Blake, a 34-year-old who’d been promoted to the Cleveland Indians’ director of pitching in early November, was surprised to learn the Yankees were asking to interview him for their recently opened job as a major league pitching coach. In late October, the Yankees had dismissed Larry Rothschild from the position he held from 2011-19.



Blake, who was also formerly the director of pitching at Cressey Sports Performance, was extremely popular amongst Cleveland pitchers and his track record of developing young arms in Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger speaks for itself. Despite Blake’s lack of experience with in-game coaching, the Yankees tabbed him as the man they hope will help them get more out of their pitching staff — a white whale of sorts over the last few seasons.



While still acclimating to the new role and introducing himself to the existing pitchers on the 40-man roster, including Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, Blake was also part of...