Blue Jays blow their season with absurd pitching decision
The Toronto Blue Jays have an entire season to wonder what if.
As in, what if manager John Schneider didn't pull starter Jose Berrios after 47 pitches and five strikeouts in a scoreless game?
The Blue Jays were swept in the ALWC after losing 2-0 to the Minnesota Twins, losing after the Twins scored two runs once Berrios was pulled in the fourth inning after issuing a walk to Royce Lewis.
Former Blue Jays catcher and manager Buck Martinez ripped the team's decision to pull Berrios after his strong start.
During the broadcast, Alex Rodriguez provided color commentary and suggested the move was made not by Schneider but was instead dictated by upper management, using advanced metrics as its reasoning.
Whatever the motivation, pulling Berrios in the fourth inning after he struck out five batters in the first three innings is on the same level of gross managerial negligence as Red Sox manager Grady Little's decision to keep Pedro Martinez in too long during the 2003 ALCS.
Berrios had it going early, despite the early walk. He had 32 strikes in his 47 pitches.
Berrios painted the corner beautifully on this two-seamer.
He kept it going as he recorded three strikeouts in the third.
The Jays made a catastrophic error by pulling Berrios, which immediately backfired.
Berrios should have been out there for the fourth inning. Who knows if things would have ended any differently if he didn't get pulled, but he earned the right to pitch longer than into the fourth inning.
Schneider and the Blue Jays have no justification for their awful decision. Let the offseason of second-guessing begin in Toronto.
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