A Bold Move, But the Right One
In the NL Wild Card Game, the Diamondbacks got off to a quick 6-0 lead against the Rockies. With their ace and $31 million man on the mound, Zach Greinke, Arizona seemed destined to advance on to the NLDS.
Why am I writing about this? I had a thought come to mind when watching this game that although is radical, makes all of the sense in the world. When the Diamondbacks jumped out to their 6-0 lead over the Rockies in the third inning, Torey Lovullo, Arizona’s first year manager, should have pulled Greinke from the game and gone to his bullpen. In a must win game? Yes!
Is the objective to win one series (in this case one game) or the World Series? I think the clear objective is to win the World Series. If you disagree, let me present a hypothetical. Would you prefer that your favorite team make the ALCS in four consecutive seasons, but advance no further than that. Or would you prefer that your favorite team misses the postseason entirely for three seasons, but then in the fourth they win the World Series. I think most fans and baseball personnel would select the latter.
That is precisely why Greinke, after throwing just 39 pitches, should have been pulled once the Diamondbacks jumped out to a six-run. In all likelihood if that was what took place, Greinke would have been available to pitch in Game 1 against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers and then he certainly would have been able to return to pitch again as the series progressed. Now Arizona will likely only have their best pitcher for one game against the team with the best record in baseball.
I understand that had Arizona blown a 6-0 after pulling one of the best pitchers in baseball that chaos would have ensued. But now they find themselves in a predicament against the Dodgers in which they don’t have their ace for multiple games. Let’s be frank, if the Diamondbacks bullpen couldn’t have held a 6-run lead perhaps they don’t even belong in the postseason to begin with. Pulling Greinke would have definitely been going against the grain, but if you desperately want to win a World Series you have to deviate from the status quo.
