I didn't like it because Morton seemed to have found his groove at that point and it just seemed like a reactionary move when we weren't the team with our backs against the wall. I also would've had more confidence in Verlander than Keuchel in game 5 if Boston had ended up winning. Luckily Boston made a pretty big mistake in leaving Sale out for the 8th when he'd already started to show problems locating the ball so that kind of cancelled out what I thought was a mistake by Hinch.
I hated the move. HATED it. But it worked! Additionally, I still hate that McHugh was left off of the roster.
Regardless, Hinch used Verlander. Hinch pitched Giles for 2 innings. Astros won 5-4. Hinch doesn't pitch Verlander, perhaps the game gets out of control like yesterday. Astros won. Entire bullpen will be rested and ready Friday. Keuchel and Verlander will still pitch games 1 & 2. How any of this is a negative is beyond me. Folks can play the 'what if' game and say, 'but what if the Astros had lost...'. Fact is, they didn't lose so those questions are moot.
Hinch is lucky we were able to pull this one out . He cannot make those mistakes moving forward especially if we play the Indians
This trend of managers yanking guys early hasn't been working out too well so far, has it? That being said, it was about time for Morton. Three times through the order is pretty much his limit, and you're happy if you can get that much out of him regardless of the number of pitches thrown or innings recorded. The BABIP dragon had been eating us up game 3 and most of game 4, so it was nice to see Boston take their share with all their LOBsters today. In the end, the result was fine and the outcome will be pretty good too with Keuchel/Verlander slated to go games 1 and 2 in the ALCS. It's dogfight territory now, and we just saw Boston unload its full chamber in going down. We should be immensely proud we beat Sale and Kimbrel to advance. This lineup was too good, the story too compelling for us not to.
I didn’t like the move then but I like your post and your reasonings make me second guess my initial reaction. Plus obviously it worked out well. Biggest problem is the timing of his insertion.
Poor Hinch. Seems whenever they lose it's his fault. When they win it's in spite of him. When he makes moves that ultimately work, he is lucky.
Welcome to the life of every manager in the MLB. I think everyone can agree Hinch has made some head scratching decisions but I think the players like playing for him and he's better than at least half the other managers in the league.
The timing of the move wasn't great (mid-inning) but I absolutely loved going to JV. And it paid off, 2.2 innings of really good pitching with a 5% hit probability pop up going into the stands.
Oh and at least he didn't royally f*** up and may be the reason the Yankees don't advance (Girardi I'm looking at you). And then after that it took him an entire DAY before admitting he was wrong.
Not sure what the issue was with the timing of the move? If there's anyone the team trusts in a difficult situation, it's Verlander. I'd much rather bring in Verlander mid-inning than Will Harris mid-inning. Morton had a nice previous inning, but he also had put on 9 baserunners in 4 innings - he was playing with fire all day. And it's not like it was a complex mid-inning situation like runners on 1st and 3rd with no out. It was a fairly mild runner-on-1st, 1-out situation.
Plus, they didn't rush him into the game. Looks like he had plenty of time to warm up. Imagine the uproar if Morton had given up the HR with Verlander warmed up and ready in the bullpen.
Didn't like it, but it worked out. If the Astros had lost it would have been trashed on this board for days. I want the Yankees and homefield.
I loved that the Astros treated yesterday as a must-win; that they played and managed with urgency. You never want your season to come down to a single, winner-take-all game. Even as favorites, game 5s (or 7s) are risky, scary propositions with razor-thin margins of error. Plus, you burn your guys down further. I'm THRILLED the Yankees forced a game 5; the winner gets one day off and then has to pick-up and play again: that's tough. So they seized control. Now they can rest their pen (& players), favorably reset their rotation and relax for a few days.
