Hinch did a great job of motivating this team to start the season. There is no doubt there. They played with fire, swagger, and had a ton of fun.
Fast forward to August / September. The team is squeezing hard. They play tight, unfocused, and soft.
Over the course of the season, it is absolutely realistic to say that the team has adopted the persona of their coach.. the guy who apologized for not hitting a batter, the guy who got pushed around by Fielder and Bannister, and the guy who never shows emotion or fire.
If you are going to give Hinch credit for the start (a start that included the entire pitching staff, Valbuena, Marisnick, and our entire bullpen performing lights out and well above their true ability), then don't you have to discount Hinch for sticking with guys in tight situations like Carter, Marisnick, Valbuena, Qualls, Neshek, and Gregerson? Is it not Hinch's fault that this team cant close out a game on the road, or that once they get down on the road, they play like battered puppies?
If it's the same team that lost 90 last year, then its also the same team that was top 3 in baseball for half of this year. What changed? We even added Correa since that hot start.. a player that is among the top 3 best on the team. Nobody's production changed outside of Marisnick. Gattis, Carter, Springer, Valbuena, Rasmus, Marwin, Castro, Conger have all been very consistently average all year. Altuve has gotten better as the year has gone on. How are we worse? Could it possibly be the never consistent lineups and batting orders? Can it possibly be the stubbornness to always remove hot relievers for struggling relievers based only on lefty right matchups?
Hinch is the only consistent this year, and his team in the clutch is not performing.