Eh, regressed the last 3 innings, with the ultimate outcome being fairly predictable. the 1-M school of managing would have yanked him after the 6th.... removing starting pitchers at the first sign of hard contact, but before they truly get shelled/give up runs. Not really practiced as much anymore... but when you have a bullpen as strong as this one, wouldn't have been that unreasonable.
I agreed with you before the inning started. Once it was under way, I was ok with him leaving McHugh in to face Garcia given what the announcers talked about--wanting Sipp to be able to face Carp and Moss. Then again, he's not a horrible hitter, right?
Surprised the announcers didn't suggest doing a double switch for Castro, and letting Gattis come in, unless there's an injury or something I'm missing.
Haha at all these armchair qb's saying hinch should've pulled him after the 2nd batter... Where were those posts one batter ago? McHugh pitched well enough that inning to earn the right to get out a PH to end the inning. Y'all are ridiculous.
Yeah, he hadn't fooled anybody since the 4th. Heard that Matheny was laughing in the presser last night about Hinch's decision to leave Fister in to hit. He's probably a complete joke around the league.
Exactly why I posted prior to the inning that I'd be fine with taking him out then, or at the first sight of trouble. That 3 hit 5th was pretty telling as to how the Cardinals were picking up his stuff better with more exposure.... the 6th featured some hard hit balls as well.
I tried to type before people responded but you beat me to it! I thought McHugh was due up next for some stupid reason.
What's Matheny's response supposed to be? It was a surprise to everyone. You can only chuckle when something like that happens. Doesn't have to be "laughing at Hinch because he's an idiot" unless you really want to interpret it that way. Also, if Fister didn't get a hit and had a bad inning after that, Hinch would be roasted. Why doesn't he get credit at least for being willing to leave him in due to his pitching when it worked out?
I'd have taken him out after the 5th, with a day off tomorrow and the best bullpen in the majors at his disposal, but good job by Hinch successfully playing with fire for an extra 1 2/3.
Interesting / good to know. With an 8 hitter in the NL up, I would imagine that %age goes down vs. the norm. Of course, if you add in the sac bunt potential of the pitcher, it's probably a little higher than 1 effective out to start with. So maybe overall, still around 40%
On a positive note... Gomez might be back... knock on wood. If we get All-Star Gomez... what a nice mid-season pick-up that would be.
Marwin sitting fastball and missed on the low pitch. Looked like he had it timed up well..unfortunate.
Also, are you presuming the 8 hitter makes an out? Because that would be the only scenario where the pitcher would be for-sure sac bunting, but that would lead to 2nd/3rd and 2 outs... only a 25% chance at that point. I think what happened probably does happen frequently... 8 hitter is a GIDP candidate, and the pitcher makes an out.
The reporter then said "it was a good decision because it worked, right?", and he was like "yep that's right". Not much left for interpretation in that exchange. If you want to give Hinch credit for leaving in Doug Fister to knock in runs, have at it. I thought it was a dumb decision that I'm happy worked out, but I'm not going to be results-oriented and change my mind to thinking it was a good decision. I'd prefer a manager who never would consider that.
