How the Managers Determined the Outcome of our Games Today.
The storyline I’ve been following in both of the Day 6 series is how starting pitching would hold up. The Dodgers starters in the playoffs have combined for 5.1 innings pitched per game, the Phillies starters have gone 4.1 innings per game. If you include Ranger Suarez’ innings with Aaron Nola, that average explodes to 6 innings per game. However, that’s two pitchers on your roster who pitched just last night. In the other divisional series, the Brewers’ starters have combined for 2.66 innings unless you include the 6 innings pitched by both Jacob Misiorowski and Jose Quintana which would skyrocket the average up 2 full innings to 4.66 innings per start. While the Cubs starters have combined for 2.2 innings pitched unless you include Shota Imanaga’s innings in Game 2 against the Brewers, which would be an average of 3.1 innings pitched per start. In the Dodgers and Phillies series, the bullpens have energy to go deeper into the game. The Brewers and the Cubs do not have that luxury. Their bullpens have gotten a lot of work early in this series. They need starts with length today. I said it in my day 5 article, John Schneider, manager of the Blue Jays, did great with his bullpen usage in the postseason thus far, and the other coaches are wishing they had followed in his footsteps.
Phillies vs Dodgers
This was a classic. Both starters were exactly what both teams were used to and needed. Christopher Sanchez looked fantastic on the mound for the Phillies only giving up one earned run on 5 hits but struck out 5. Sanchez met the average innings pitched for the Phillies, in what they were hoping would be a light day for the bullpen. However, Tyler Glasnow threw 6 innings of shutout baseball, giving up 2 hits and walking 3 but striking out 8. Emmet Sheehan gave up the lone run for Dodgers. Roki Sasaki and Alex Vesia combined for 4 shutout innings. The Phillies ran into trouble in the 11th inning when Jesus Luzardo and Orion Kerkering worked the bases loaded. Kerkering ended up making one of the worst postseason errors by a pitcher that I’ve seen, possibly ever. Every single player was yelling to throw the ball to first, yet for whatever reason, he threw the ball home but way past catcher JT Realmuto. This was a lack of preparation, and I blame that on the coaches for not practicing this enough/not communicating to rhe players about the situation.
I had an issue with the way Rob Thomson went about handling his starter Christopher Sanchez in this game. I didn’t understand why Sanchez was put back out into the game going into the 7th inning. Matt Strahm, Luzardo, and Kerkering were all available in the game before bringing in in Jhoan Duran. Instead, Sanchez was sent out for the 7th, got into trouble and then Thomson chose to put his closer, Duran, into the game. In the 7th inning. When he came in, Thomson would have been asking for an 8 out save. I didn’t get it. Even in extra innings, bringing in Kerkering over leaving Luzardo in the game when he got into trouble didn’t make sense to me. Luzardo did nothing but earn my trust this postseason while Kerkering looked off the majority of the postseason. One of the main reasons the Dodgers beat the Phillies was mismanagement by Rob Thomson. The other reason the Phillies were defeated was because their team didn’t perform. I won’t provide stats for this because they’re awful, but Brandon Marsh, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber (basically the entire Phillies offense) was nonexistent when facing anyone not named Clayton Kershaw. For a team of this caliber and payroll, I expected better. The fans expected better. Instead, the Dodgers outperformed, out managed, and simply out wanted the Phillies. Huge testament to Manager Dave Roberts and the Dodgers.
The move of Roki Sasaki to the bullpen may be the best move of the postseason. Sasaki looked borderline untouchable. He’s given up 1 hit in 5.1 innings of work. The only question I have for the Dodgers is if Andy Pages is worth the offensive liability for his defensive prowess. I get that he’s young and has good defense, but in the postseason he’s hitting .042. Alex Call is on the bench just waiting for his chance to hit. I’m excited to see what we see from Dave Roberts in the NLCS.
Brewers vs Cubs
Robert Gasser isn’t the name many would have thought I’d bring up first, but he played a big part in this game and potentially the series. Gasser may have given up 2 runs in 2 innings, but the fact he got two innings of work is massive for a Brewers bullpen that needed rest. This was a very smart and thought out strategic move by manager Pat Murphy. Freddy Peralta didn’t get enough innings to relieve the bullpen from a lot of innings. He stayed par for the course giving 4 innings of work. Positive thing is that both Trevor Megill and Chad Patrick only needed to get 2 outs tonight, allowing them to really rest up for game 5.
The Cubs fans reading this and the fanbase as a whole have to be thinking… “finally.” Watching this game with some friends, I can tell you our thoughts were all the same… “so we can score runs after the first inning.” Honestly, this was the one game they didn’t need it. The Cubs pitching was fantastic and that started with Matthew Boyd. He went 4.2 innings of shutout ball, which could have been longer had it not been for 3 walks. Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller, and Caleb Thielbar combined for 4.1 innings of shutout ball giving up 1 hit and only walked 1 batter. The Cubs bullpen showed up and showed in game 4. Insurance runs added by Matt Shaw, Kyle Tucker, and Michael Busch allowed the relievers to get lower leverage innings. Another came here I wouldn’t change anything done by either coach. This was a great game to watch for management talent. I’m glad we get another game.
I do want to call out TBS TV analysts here. As a writer, it’s my job to give you the best information I have available to me, and to be accurate with it. If I’m not 100% sure of something, I don’t share it. Three times in this game, the analysts provided stats that were incorrect. I’m someone who cares about giving the right information, and if I can take time out of my day to give you information that I’ve verified, I will. TBS did not, and that’s their full-time job. Nico Hoerner was on the 2020 playoff roster, he just didn’t record any playing time. It was broadcasted that Ian Happ was the only player on the roster from the 2020 playoff team, which was false. Matt Shaw secured his first career postseason hit early in this game, and no one mentioned it. Not only was it not brought up, the broadcast later mentioned that Shaw was still looking for his first career postseason hit. That’s embarrassing. These guys work so hard to play this game, and it’s our job as writers, analysts, broadcasters; (any media position) to give the recognition when it’s due. The TBS broadcast tonight for the Cubs vs Brewers game was brutal.
Final Thoughts
We got the second team booked for a championship series. The Dodgers deserved it and made some great calls and moves with their team to earn that spot. We have another game 5 to watch coming up as well with the Brewers vs the Cubs. I’m excited to recap the Mariners vs Tigers game on Friday, followed by the Cubs vs Brewers game on Saturday. Come back around to hear all the drama around the coaches, players, and now TV broadcasts.
