Monday, October 14, 2013

Excerpt: "Jim Leyland's Bad Night"

"The very first decision Leyland made, to take Scherzer out, isn't controversial. Scherzer had thrown 108 pitches, including 14 in the seventh, and while the velocity was fine -- 94 to 96, per Gameday -- Leyland's bullpen has been an asset for five months now. The opportunity to save Scherzer one inning deep in Game One of this series when you want him in Game Six and then twice in the World Series is one worth taking. Forget the individual decisions that followed and come back to one question: why did Jim Leyland decide to play matchup ball with a four-run lead and six outs to go when he has two very good complete-inning relievers at his disposal?"