The Orioles themselves escaped some jams with Britton but finally in the 11th inning, their good fortune ran out and they were sent packing without their elite closer ever coming in from the bullpen. At that moment, Rivera had thrown 5 1/3 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in the postseason and was the lone member of the pen who had been effective against Seattle’s great lineup. The O’s pen was among the best in the majors, and is a big part of why they are in the playoffs.
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Andrew Miller, one of Buck Showalter’s former relievers, strongly defended the manager after he failed to use Zach Britton in the Baltimore Orioles’ Wild Card loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
As I watched Jimenez warming up, I texted a friend of mine.
Buck Showalter has been the subject of widespread criticism following the curious decision to keep AL Cy Young candidate Zach Britton in the bullpen during the AL Wild Card against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. This game is over. The Orioles managed just four hits and all their runs came on a Mark Trumbo two-run homer. That is the longest ideal run by a left-hander from the start of a season in major-league history and third longest if you lump him in against righties. That same night, on the road, Red Sox manager Grady Little bypassed closer Scott Williamson in favor of knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who subsequently allowed a series-deciding home run to Aaron Boone, the last walk-off victor in a winner-take-all postseason game. The Yankees, of course, went on to lose in six games. “Britton is the Orioles best pitcher, and saving him for the final three outs of the game would be a waste of a premium asset”. Having Britton stand in the bullpen in a ONE game playoff – not a best of 3, or 5, or 7, was unfathomable and merits scrutiny.
This was a case of first-guessing Showalter. Jimenez had a 2.45 ERA in seven starts (47 2/3 innings) after rejoining the Baltimore rotation August 25. In 63 appearances covering 67 innings, Britton had a 0.54 ERA and allowed four runs.
At the end of the night, though, the Blue Jays know they got a huge favor from Orioles manager Buck Showalter. He put in two pitchers in different double play situations – desperate, pleading double play situations – and they each got a double play on exactly one pitch. But…did Showalter make a mistake?
Now, if you want to debate that Dylan Bundy or Tommy Hunter would have been a better choice than Jimenez, the floor is yours.
“It’s not my call”.
And then consider this additional remarks by Showalter in his postgame presser. Britton’s night off was predictably the primary topic of conversation, though the manager seemed surprised people were even asking him about the decision.
It’s not surprising that Gibbons was trusting his gut in a must-win game, although it’s notable that he was doing so in a game that he might have needed to win to save his job. It looked like it was going to be one of those that was more than one inning. In the days and months ahead, much will be discussed about the outlook of the 2017 Orioles, but if it doesn’t include more a focus on this, we’ll likely end up talking about this very same thing next October.
“Playing on the road has a little something to do with it, too”. He is left-handed. Showalter never mentioned this as a reason for Chen’s demotion, but given Chen’s effectiveness up to that point and his tweets about being in good health, the timing was curious to say the least.
“Sure, (using Britton) crosses your mind from about the sixth inning on”. Toronto didn’t play a ideal game by any stretch of the imagination, but they didn’t make the final error. As well, there was nothing particularly rigid about the way Showalter used his closer during the regular season.
Writer: “I’m sorry to harp on this…” I honestly can’t tell if this is actually a tipping point, or if it’s just one we’ve all invented because we’re exhausted about talking about this.
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Showalter: “We can talk about it privately”. But I know the world that you have to live in. Baseball has a way of throwing you a curveball and youve got to be ready for it. “Right now I’ve got two sweatshirts and a hat to show for it”.
