What Was the Plan?

I’m not really sure why the Athletics put Liam Hendricks on the mound to start their one and only playoff game this season but whatever the plan was, it failed miserably.

I am pretty sure that 2018 will go down as the year of unorthodox pitching strategies. We had the bullpen game and we had the “opener” game, and for many teams they only allowed the starter to pitch through the opposing lineup twice fearing the latest research that the third time is the charm.

The unusual has become the new normal so much that a team who made it to the playoffs decided it was their best hope in the one and only game they would play in the post season. Of course it would be their only game if they lost, and that’s what happened.

Opener/starter Liam Hendricks was completely overmatched in the first inning and setup the Yankees to dominate Oakland 7–2.

With the strategy Oakland basically handed their one chance at moving on in the playoffs to a pitcher who was 0–1 with a 4.13 ERA. Sure he may have pitched well in September but is this the guy you want starting your most important game of the season? I certainly wouldn’t want this, but then, it appears Billy Beane wanted to leave his team’s fate to relief pitchers. He had 11 pitchers on the post season roster and all but 1 was a reliever. Granted, they could mix things up if they won and moved to the next round but obviously that didn’t work out.

For the Yankees, they went with the traditional starter – Luis Severino. He only pitched 4 innings but he struck out 7 and gave up no runs. He went out and pitched his heart out, just as though he were a dedicated reliever and he left nothing in the tank. This is the playoffs after all and while in the regular season it may seem like a good idea to have an opener who’s gonna go out and throw his hardest knowing he’s only gonna pitch an inning, in the playoffs all pitchers know they might only pitch an inning or two. So you should put your best pitcher on the mound and those are usually starters.

There’s a different mentality in the playoffs. Pitchers are gonna get pulled, and early, if they are ineffective since there’s no margin for error. So starters go out with the same live or die attitude that a reliever would have during the regular season. Severino saw himself as the only thing standing between his team and elimination from the playoffs, so he pitched like it. He was invested.

Hendricks was just an “opener”. He went out there knowing he was only gonna pitch one inning and he was done. He had no investment in the game beyond that. So if he made a mistake or two, other relievers would pick him up. The only problem was, this was the playoffs and every run means so much more.

The bottom line is that the experiment failed. It may work as a gimmick in the regular season but in the playoffs where a team needs the win you’re better off letting a starter go 3 or 4 innings and then relieve him.

On the offensive side of things, Oakland was pretty much shut down. They had opportunities as Severino walked 4 in the first 4 innings but they just could not capitalized on anything. Their one shining moment was a Khris Davis home run in the 8th but by then time was running out fast.

Overall, it was a good season for Oakland who came into it with one of the lowest team salaries in baseball but who made it to the playoffs. A few more pieces or a better strategy and they could have made it further.

Hopefully next year they’ll represent the West a bit better once and if they make it to the post season.