"Bold" Managerial Choices as the Jays Beat Yankees
That was a very fun game of baseball. It was tight. It was well pitched. It was competitive. There were timely hits on both sides and there were some managerial moves.
Kevin Gausman shoved. This was his line: 6.1 IP, 6H, 2 ER, 1BB, 7K. Vlad Jr. had the biggest walk-off hit of his young career in the 10th and claimed his house.
The biggest moment in the game and probably the biggest moment so far in John Schneider’s very young MLB managing career came in the top of the tenth inning.
There were two men for Aaron Judge and there was a base open. .
And John Schneider called on Tim Mayza to walk Aaron judge, loading the bases with two outs.
Anthony Rizzo grounded out to Vlad Jr. and the inning was over. The bottom of the tenth saw Guerrero hit a base hit for the win.
Now, that is a pretty standard managerial call. It’s a baseball adage — don’t pitch to the best hitter, especially late, especially with men on. But it took on a new meaning because Judge is sitting on 60 homers.
And it was in that context that the reaction to the Schneider call became hilarious, particularly from the Yankees media and fans. I first noticed the reaction from the YES Network in the post-game.
Schneider’s call was such a standard call that there was some questioning as to why Aaron Boone didn’t make a similar call to walk Guerrero or the previous batter, Bo Bichette. Bichette is swinging a hot bat and nearly won the game with a deep fly ball that Judge caught at the wall.
And then there was this, which made me laugh.
How? Two teams in a tight game, making plays and making moves in a late September baseball game with playoff implications is bad for baseball? Because you have to wait a little longer for this dude to break a record?
I can’t think of another fanbase that expects the rest of the league to just roll out a red carpet. Aaron Judge beating the record would be great, however, these games are needed by the Blue Jays, far more than they are for the Yankees.
The Jays’ way to the playoffs will be via the Wild Card and as of now, it looks as though it will be versus the Rays. The Jays will want homefield advantage to reep the rewards of a pumped Toronto crowd and not have more games in the lifeless confines of the Trop, a place that can suck souls dry and where I doubt even the Rays want to play.
And I will point out that the Jays pitched to Judge every other time —he hit a single, struck out looking, had a not on purpose walk and struck out swinging (on a steady diet of Yimi Garcia sliders) before the IBB. He had his opportunities.