Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo set out to hire a pitching coach with four specific qualifications, per The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan. He was looking for someone, obviously, with pitching knowledge, good communication skills, and the ability to work well with the team’s medical personnel, but Lovullo also wanted someone with the creativity and innovative instincts to stay up-to-speed with the changing shape of the game. Matt Herges may not be the picture-perfect candidate, but he’s the guy with the job. And while Arizona reportedly offered the job to Kirk Saarloos and Bryan Price before Herges, they are no doubt content with Herges and value the eagerness with which he has come to the role. Sometimes the right decision is as simple as hiring the person who wants the job most.
- A lot was made of Gerrit Cole beginning to get warm in the bullpen during the 5th inning of the World Series’ clinching game, but apparently that was nothing more than a bit of self-direction of Cole’s part, per A.J. Hinch in an interview with The Athletic’s Jake Kaplan. Hinch did have Cole up and warming in the 7th, as the plan was for Will Harris to escape the inning and Cole to start the 8th with a 2-1 lead. Best-laid plans, in this case, never got Cole into the ballgame. Still, Hinch stands by his decision to go with Harris at that point, as well as Roberto Osuna and Joe Smith following. Frankly, all four were legitimate options in those spots, though the results ultimately make any defense of Hinch’s decisions, like the game itself, a losing battle.
- Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro remains in the running for managerial openings with the Giants and Pirates, tweets John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. He was not specifically identified within a group of favorites that included Gabe Kapler, Pedro Grifol, and Joe Espada, but he did interview at least once with San Francisco, and there’s still a chance he becomes the third Rays staffer to land a managing gig in as many years.
Hinch had the best pitcher in his prime at his disposal in the last game of the year and didnt use him the first chance he had knowing full well he wouldnt even be on the team next year – all the more reason to overuse him – that should be a fire-able offense.
They had an agreement and game plan that Cole wouldn’t come into the game during an inning or if they were losing. Harris was the right guy to put in at the time and he made the pitch he wanted to make. Sometimes you just get beat. As an Astros fan and fan of the losing team in the World Series, you want to find a scape goat for not getting it done but the entire playoffs the Nats found a way to be clutch. I don’t want to disrespect the Nats on their amazing wins by blaming Hinch.
Bingo. Look at the runners left on. If they had even been at their regular season BA with runners on they would be the champs. The Nationals were the better team for 7 games. They are pros too and really good.
I logged in JUST to give you a thumbs up. Very honorable of you and much respect.
You don’t have a game plan for game 7. You just don’t. Or else what happened, will happen. How many times have you read “all hands on deck for game 7”? I have heard it hundreds of times. Literally everyone says it every time there’s a game 7. If Cole is going “screw the plan, put me in now”, then you put him in now.
AJ Hinch has officially outed himself as a phony good manager who got made to look good by having too much talent to fail in 2017.
Pffft. The plan was a smart, responsible plan. It just happened not to work that one day against a gutsy opponent.
Going with a guy that gave up one run in seventeen post season innings up to that point to finish an inning isn’t a plan?
You drunk?
All hands on deck doesn’t mean you use everyone and put people in situations where it’s hard for them to succeed. Outside of the homerun in game 6, Harris hadn’t give up any runs all post season. Everyone talks about how Scherzer has pitched on short rest. It worked out this post season for Scherzer doing so but there has been quite a few times where he got lit up doing so. And if you think Hinch isn’t a good manager, scratch that—one of the best in baseball, then you should probably take up one of the other major sports with your time. Analyzing baseball isn’t for you.
I would like to know when Scherzer pitched on short rest. Are you talking about coming out of the bullpen?
@Strike Four;
You should be a combination MLB Franchise Owner / GM / Manager / Union Head when you get out of middle school…..
You’re always right and all those people are always wrong when life is not perfect.
Scherzer pitched on short rest against the Dodgers in the ALDS and was excellent. Prior to this post season, which he seemed to exercise some post season demons, his previous post season appearance was in relief against the Cubs in 2017 on short rest and pitched an inning gave up 4 Runs, 2 ER and 3 hits. My point was that, as good as a starter is, you really don’t know what you’re going to get.
Strike Four
Why would Hinch be fired? Seriously what is wrong with you
Wouldn’t you agree that Hinch made a strategic mistake? Grieneke was pitching a very solid game even into the 7th inning after allowing that HR and a walk. His pitch count was about standard and still had command of his sinker. Hinch overreacted to bring in Harris who had been struggling of late. Bad move on Hinch’s part.
It’s game 7. Any sign of weakness and you move to the next guy who you trust. I’m sure most manager would have done exactly the same thing at that point in the game.
There wasn’t a sign of weakness though. He gave up two hits all game and walked Soto because he wasn’t going to let Soto beat him. That was exactly how he should have pitched to him. There was no reason to think that he wouldn’t be able to keep inducing weak contact, as he had all night.
He had command of his sinker? Prove it.
Come on, if they left Greinke in and he got shelled you’d be all like “Greinke gave up a HR and walk and Hinch left him in the game. Fire him!”
There’s no margin of error in the situation. None. He did the smart thing.
There may be lots wrong with Strike Four, but Strike Four is correct. Not having Cole as the very next arm after Greinke should be a fireable offense. Hinch has taken a dynasty and turned it into 1 championship bailed out by an unbelievable comeback victory against Kershaw in the 2017 World Series that turned Houston’s fortunes around. Hinch isn’t getting the most out of this extremely talented squad. Part of that might fall on others in the organization too.
He put in one of the best relievers in MLB this year. A player that dominated the regular season and the postseason. It’s not like he threw in a mopup guy
There’s actually nothing wrong with me, you simply aren’t willing to hear all truths and instead cherry pick the ones you already agree with, while living with delusion about the ones you don’t.
Strike Four
You are a typical millennial, fair weather fan who probably doesn’t go to games or spend your money on the team, yet feel entitled to make your ridiculous demands. A long term good team keeps their manager long term, regardless of a loss. Cole showed his true colors after the game with his Scott Boras hat. He’s a me guy, sucked as a Pirate in the clutch. Good riddance.
“Earl Weaver isn’t getting the most out of this extremely talented squad”
“There may be lots wrong with Strike Four, but Strike Four is correct. Not having Cole as the very next arm after Greinke should be a fireable offense.”
Ridiculous. Now that is the over-reaction of a generation. Firable.
“‘There’s actually nothing wrong with me, you simply aren’t willing to hear all truths and instead cherry pick the ones you already agree with,”
LOL
Strike Four;
I’ve been reading you doing that here for over a year now.
AJ Hinch manged that team to a WS win 2 years ago. This year he managed them to the ALW Championship, a ALCS win into the WS, and into the 7th game of the WS.
You? You don’t appear to have the qualification to get a job as a hot dog vendor at a MLB park.
Respectfully disagree Mo. Cole had to be brought in. He wasn’t even thought of. Practically not an option.
I’m pretty sure you’re one of the over-the-top Cardinal fans crapping on the organization. Whether you are or not doesn’t really matter. Cole after Greinke should have been a no-brainer. If Randy Johnson could come in after Schilling on zero rest, Cole could pitch. If Sale could close the WS last year, Cole could pitch. Overreaction? No, not really.
Strike Four – I handed you a rope to save yourself, not wrap it around your throat. Use it to tie your hands next time so you stop typing before thinking.
Saying Hinch made a mistake is one thing, but saying he should be fired for that is over the top.
He’s a dope
Agreed JD,there has been some foolish decisions by other managers in these playoffs but this is not one,if you follow the game you understand that.
What a dumb post.
It wasn’t about overusing Cole. It was about throwing a guy with 250 innings under his belt, having thrown 100 pitches two days prior, with zero bullpen experience over a guy that hadn’t allowed a run the entire post season until the night before.
Will Harris had allowed zero inherited runs the entire postseason prior to game six, and Cole is somehow infallible despite having given up five earned runs against the Nats in his first WS start.
There was no easy answer, and to act like there was is ignorant.
Bingo.
Bingo? Could have used the “it was about bringing in a reliever for his 12th postseason appearance and 80th for the season under his belt.”
And it was 3 days earlier. Two days prior was a travel day. The answer was easy: Gerrit Cole, win or lose the World Series with the best arm.
r u ever not lol?
Hinch did an awful job and it started showing in September. Springer should be a 3/4 hitter. Why should we be congratulating a player for hitting most lead off homers?!? Why isn’t Altuve, your sparkplug, leading off? Have you seen his stats leading off an inning compared to Springer? Why is the MVP and your leader in OBP not batting in top third of lineup? Why was Osuna closing game in postseason when it was declared before end of season the job was Harris’ to close? Why is there not a LH in bullpen? Ignorant… he claimed not to believe in same arm platooning but frequently does so with his batters even when they have better stats against same arm pitchers…. Fire Hinch. Beltran would’ve been an excellent choice
Probably some of those decisions didn’t belong to Hinch. You talk as if the manager decides everything. Teams use analytics a lot now, and the front offices are the ones that want that.
Mgr doesn’t decide lineups, matchups or roster?!?
Let’s see Springer was the leadoff hitter and was WS MVP, he also changed the way teams view that position.
Altuve protects him in the lineup. Osuna never lost the closer job to Harris and all of Houston’s relievers have great stats against lefties.
Thikiedon you really should watch actual modern baseball to understand what an idiotic post you made.
BTW, Hinch is the winningest manager in baseball for the last 3 seasons. Just go away.
Amen
Game 7 of the world series and you don’t have one of the best pitchers in the game warming up? He has to do it himself? Hinch must have hit the pipe that night.
Dave Martinez did it with Scherzer, yet Hinch didn’t actively do it with Cole? I don’t get it. Cole had to get up and start pitching himself? You really like Will Harris in 1 IP over Cole on 2 days rest?
>>Bad metaphor coming — it’s like dying in a firefight with a pistol and you had grenades on reserve.
Starting pitchers throw 20-30 throws before they even touch a mound. Don’t you think it’s a good idea to try to replicate that routine as closely as possible before you’re required to warm up in the bullpen before entering a game?
Good Lord y’all are thick.
If Hinch brings in Cole and he blows the lead, then everyone crucifies Hinch for bringing him in the middle of an inning (which he hadn’t done since college). When are fans going to realize that there are no perfect decisions and no perfect managers? Always something to complain about.
well said
It’s not brain surgery to retire a guy in the middle of an inning. He was warming up early in the 5th knowing he needed extra time to be warm to be ready for a situation like that. While I don’t want to discount excellent middle relief and situational pitching, you’re not giving enough credit to an elite pitcher in his prime on the grandest stage. Would you rather fail with Will Harris/Osuna/Smith or would you rather fail with Cole and any number of the other RPs used?
You obviously never pitched. Pitchers are creatures of habit. If they had been leading when the 8th started and he didn’t put Cole in to start the inning you could crucify him, but not in this instance.
Agree. Managers put their players in a position to succeed. He’s a starter.
Houston had a quality bullpen all year. You don’t start experimenting in that game.
Exactly. I don’t think Hinch made a mistake but even if he had it’s not a firable offence. You’re going to go through a lot of managers and end up with a terrible one likely if you fire them every time you don’t like a single in-game call.
It’s like cutting a hitter because of one strikeout. Hinch has proven his skill as a manager
Exactly, sidewinder.
Hinch didn’t over manage, which is more than I can say for most managers in a playoff game. He went with the combo that had worked all year; unfortunately, it didn’t work that night. However, once Harris blew the lead, he should have gone with Cole.
He did over manage. There was no reason to pull Greinke. He was at 80 pitches and had only allowed 2 hits all night. He should have left him in. That’s why you make a trade for Greinke in the first place.
To throw more than 4.67 innings twice, five IP per start with a 4.68 ERA? Dude was mediocre this postseason, and you think it was a massive mistake to take him out? Why, because “you traded for him”?
Will Harris had allowed one run the entire post season in 17 IP up to that point.
Greinke is an ace, you don’t pull an ace after 80 pitches because you want to suddenly play matchups in the middle of the game.
Greinke didnt excatly look like an ace his previous 4 postseason starts, nor pitched very long in any of them.
So is Kershaw, what’s your point?
And Greinke was threatening to blow up, just as you would expect the third time through the order. Meanwhile there’s a guy in the pen (Harris) who has been tough as nails in the situation all year long. It’s a no-brainer. Hinch did the right thing. It just happened not to work, and some people are reacting childishly, without reason.
Hinch’s best option to finish the 7th was Greinke with just 80 pitches of dominant performance.. Why is everyone missing this??? Removing Greinke at that point is over-managing.
This I do agree with.
I also agree, Greinke’s game was on. He only gave up 2 hits and you take one of the best pitchers in MLB out? Would he have taken out Cole or Verlander after giving up only 2 hits and with a low pitch count?
No, he definitely wouldn’t.
No, no one is missing it. What I think is being missed is Greinke’s performance in the postseason. He simply did not work deep in games, at all. So AJ went off of the information he had. A guy who had trouble working deep in games started to look like he was in some trouble in the seventh and he went to his best reliever at the time.
I agree extremely with this. But Cole should have come in after Greinke was at 100 pitches and starting to put runners on. If Greinke was still getting outs, then you ride him to the end and make him throw 130 or whatever.
in a close game like that you dont want a fire to put out. if you think Greinke is about to slow down and is at any risk of causing such a fire, you have to take him out. Greinke did not pitch deep into games consistently in the postseason – there was reason to believe his returns the next inning could have been shaky.
I arm wrestled Gabe Kapler in the lower Haight about 2 weeks ago when he was in town for his second interview. He tried to tell me that season 8 of Game of Thrones wasn’t an unmitigated disaster, which is when I knew he isn’t the right person for the job.
This may be the best comment I’ve ever seen posted on here.
In his defense, he said that Tyrion’s launch angle was spot on when he blasted all over that hooker Roz in the winterfell brothel.
Although extremely funny, why is this the only comment about managerial openings on this thread?
From Craig Edwards at FG:
“In my piece, I argued that Hinch should have left Greinke in to finish the seventh, but before I got there, I discussed whether Greinke should have started the inning to begin with, and the team’s bizarre handling of Gerrit Cole as a potential reliever:
That leaves Gerrit Cole. It’s not clear why Cole was only going to be available for the ninth inning if Houston got the lead. He was warming earlier in the game. He was pitching on two days rest, so it’s possible he was only going to be available for an inning, and it seems reasonable to want to put him in at the start of an inning so he can be better prepared for it, but having him only available in the ninth to close out a World Series win is an odd choice and makes one wonder if the decision wasn’t entirely baseball-related.”
Like Showalter saving Britton while losing.
Cole was warming up for a clean eighth.
Maddon put his ace in back in 2016 and it “was wrong”. Hinch didn’t put his ace in in game 7 and it “was wrong.” This is the beauty of baseball.
The guys that get paid millions to do their job are always “wrong.” And the 1,245,872 managers on the internet are always “right.”
Imagine how wrong Maddon and Hinch would have been if Rajai Davis’ ball traveled five less feet or if Howie Kendrick’s ball was about two feet further to the right.
Maddon won a title in 2016, therefore nothing he did was “wrong”, because it all led to a title.
and so everything Hinch did then was wrong? you’re not exactly disproving his point.
Perfect 20-20 vision after the fact, Strike Four, you’re a joke.
Great comment Mike127! Very well put.
Any decision Hinch made in game 7 was wrong because the Astro’s lost. If they had won. Every decision he made would have been right. This is not aabout whether the decision was right or wrong but that the results was wrong.
Huh?
believe he’s referring to the thread above.
If Hinch were to be fired by the Astros at least 5 teams would fire their current manager in an attempt to sign him..
Hinch is one of the best managers in the game. Dude has like 315 regular season wins in the last 3 years, 2 AL pennants and a WS title. Yes the Astros are talented, but you still have to mange that talent. The Nats (I believe) where going to beat any pitcher and any team this year. Call it Destiny or whatever, that is baseball.
Hinch is a fake good manager, he won his title because he had too much talent to lose.
and how many times has that been said about the Dodgers the past three years?
I’ve never seen you say anything that is not ludicrous.
Ridiculous comment. A good “manager” does not screw up good talent and gets the most out of whatever talent he has. That’s what managing is, yet you ding him for doing exactly that. Not to mention, history is littered with teams that “had too much talent to lose,” yet lost.
…and then let’s watch and see what Hinch does with a much less talented team than HOU. Was ARZ a mulligan for him and he’s learned a lot since then? Would be interesting to find out.
As an Astros fan…it was disappointing, but nothing to get mad about; simply put the Nats were the team that peaked at the right time. Stros can’t win if they can’t score runs…long ball can only take you so far day after day. Nats deserved the title imo. Congrats to them!
I agree with those that would not have brought Cole in in the middle of an inning.. You don’t want the guy to have to re-think his strategy.
But to not bring him in in the 8th, because you want to wait until you are winning? IMO, it makes no sense. At that point, you cannot give up another run. And Cole is the perfect one-run guy.
Even on the BP side, they went thru 5 RPs. It just feels like they’d be better off with a starter that can go 2-3 innings, than running thru their entire BP.
AJ covered this already. If they tied the game back up he needed innings. Cole became the guy if they tied the game.
and my point is AJ’s thought process is idiotic and should have gotten him fired. The Astros are the Seahawks of baseball now. That was the easiest possible call and AJ blew it.
So all of AJ’s experience, resources, and advice go out the window cause you, MLBTR poster guy sez so hmmm ok
If Cole was good to throw 3 innings, for example, what difference does it make if he pitches the 8-9-10, or 9-10-11? And when you are down 1 in the 8th I cannot planning on who is going to pitch the 11th.
But that is still not a reason to not bring him in in the 8th. He has twice as much value pitching the 8-9-10 than he does of pitching the 10-11-12, because there is no guarantee there will be a 10-11-12.
It sucks the Astros lost but I’d rather be sad at the end of October instead of the end of September.
managing during the regular season and the postseason are just about polar oppsites. in hindsight its easy for the layman to say “why wouldnt you put the best pitcher in the game in,” yet there could be many reasons why that doesnt happen. Id trust Hinch over just about anyone else to make the right decision in the heat of the moment, and im sure that all the dilettantes here wouldn’t even be able to win 3 world series games, much less enough to win the series. Ask Dave Roberts if you still think its that easy.
If Altuve can throw the ball to first base, it’s a two run game.
I questioned taking Greinke out. He’s thrown 80 pitches and allowed 4 baserunners in 6 and 1/3 innings. Isn’t this why he’s making 35 million dollars?
But once you go to the pen, there is always a chance going to go to an arm that just doesn’t have it. And that’s what happened here.
One of the things I gave Martinez credit for, in the NLCS, was NOT removing Scherzer and Strasburg when they were pitching well in G6 & G7. Somewhere long the line, removing your SPs became a strategy. And it can work, But when your SP is on, it is sometimes better to save your BP. Giving up a HR to Rendon is something that doesn’t require an over-reaction.
Hinch made two mistakes. The first one was in game 2 when he went to Pressly in that 7th inning explosion. No need to use Pressly in such a high pressure situation especially since he wasn’t 100 percent healthy. He could of turned to Harris to get him out of the inning without a doubt. Second mistake was in Game 7 and was the decision to not let Greinke finish the 7th…..sorry but AJ got out coached and our bats weren’t as strong as they needed to be…this is why we lost the World Series.
AJ made the wrong moves again, as he done for years. I was at game 5 2017 when he put Giles not a tie game in the 9th. The entire crowd moaned,. AJ seemed to be the only one who didn’t remember Giles continual blowups. There a reason he’s never even in the conversation for manager of the year despite the Astros winning more than anyone the past 3 years.
Game 5 of the Yankee series or World Series in 2017?
Whole lot of guys that never played the game trying to second guess one of the best managers in the game. Greinke was done. You could see it in the loss of command. Doesn’t matter how many pitches he threw, he lives and dies on pinpoint accuracy and he didn’t have it. That is why Hinch pulled him. Harris was one of the best relievers in the playoffs. That is the guy you want to go to in pressure situations. He made a good pitch. A great hitter took it deep. There was no bad decision by Hinch, just a bunch of whiny Monday morning QBs.
Greinke wasn’t done. I just rewatched the video when he walked Soto…he was not done, and we could of gotten out of that inning with him in there at least tied…sorry your wrong Koamalu.
The link above is going to the wrong Bryan Price. I didn’t know there was another one.
Whole lot of guys that never played the game trying to second guess one of the best managers in the game. Greinke was done.
————————————————————-
1-I think it should be assumed that, when you sign into MLB-R, you are exchanging opinions with fans who were not major league players.
2-How do you know that Greinke was done? Are you a former major league player? The fact is, you don’t have a clue whether or not he was done. All you have is the fact that he walked a very dangerous hitter.
Further, Soto got the benefit of a 2-1 call that should have been strike. If that pitch was called correctly, the count is 2-2 instead of 3-1. So you are essentially advocating for Greinke’s removal based on the fact that the umpire missed the pitch.
Sounds like to me you think Greinke would have surrendered another homer to Kendrick….am I right? I do not believe that he would of, I think he would of gotten Kendrick to pop up or at worst, a single to advance Soto…then Harris should of come in..
No mention of Herges in this entire thread, even though that’s the primary topic under the headline.
I think the fact that the D’backs had to go with their third choice, that their two top choices actually turned them down, raises some red flags about what’s going on there with Lovullo and the front office. Definitely bares watching as these guys may be coming off as controlling and untrustworthy.