Let’s do something just a little bit different this week.
In Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers last Wednesday, the Brewers sent left-handed pitcher Wade Miley out to start the game. Miley pitched to one batter, walking Dodgers leadoff man Cody Bellinger, then was immediately removed in favor of right-hander Brandon Woodruff, who threw the next 5.1 frames. During the game it was announced that Miley would be the starter again two days later in Game 6.
This maneuver created huge waves in the baseball world. Never before had something like this ever been done in a playoff or World Series game.
The logic behind it is this. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts essentially had two lineups he used during the NLCS, a left-handed lineup that he used against right-handed starting pitchers and a right-handed lineup he fielded against left-handed pitchers as he tried to leverage a deep roster to maximize his platoon advantage. What Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell did was devise a method for countering that, enticing Roberts to put together a right-handed lineup, then immediately bring in a right-hander so that Milwaukee would either have the platoon advantage or force Roberts to burn up his bench early in the game.
On one hand, this is good strategy. The Brewers, for whom starting pitching was not a strength, basically played the series without any starting pitchers. Milwaukee’s starters combined to throw 20.1 innings in the series’ seven games, which is an average of eight outs a start. The Brewers instead relied on a deep and capable bullpen which Counsell could use to get favorable matchups and prevent Los Angeles’ batters from seeing a pitcher more than once in a game. This was just the extreme example of this.
On the other hand, this goes against more than a century of baseball tradition. The way baseball has always worked is that teams name their starting pitchers for upcoming games, and the opposing teams then set their lineups based on the pitcher they’re facing. This maneuver went against tradition, and I heard many a traditionalist rail against Counsell’s gimmicky way of flouting the unwritten rules of the sport.
One can argue whether the strategy worked or not. Woodruff gave the Brewers 5.1 strong innings of relief. But the Dodgers may have suspected something was up as Roberts had two lefties in his starting lineup (Woodruff had to be warming up before the game somewhere that was visible, didn’t he?), and Los Angeles won the game 5-2 behind Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers ended up winning the series in Game 7 to advance to the World Series against the Boston Red Sox.
I’m curious to find out what the public thinks of this. Was this a moment of strategic brilliance from Counsell, or was it a case of Counsell being bush league? Have your say here:
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