Tony La Russa says intentionally walking Trea Turner with two strikes was easy call
Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa left viewers, commentators, and even some players confused when he decided to intentionally walk Trea Turner in the sixth inning, despite the Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop facing a 1-2 count. Max Muncy immediately made the White Sox pay with a three-run homer on the next at-bat.
Still, La Russa was baffled after the game when he learned that some thought it was a questionable call.
"Is there some question about whether that was a good move or not?" La Russa asked reporters Thursday. "Do you know what [Turner] hits against left-handed pitching with one — 0-1 — or two strikes? Do you know what he hits? Do you know what Muncy hits against left-handed pitching? I mean, is that really a question? Because it was 1-2?
"Turner with a strike left against a left-hander is someone you avoid if you can. We had an open base and Muncy happened to be the guy behind him, and that's a better matchup. If somebody disagrees, that's the beauty of this game, they're welcome to it. But that wasn't a tough call."
Muncy, 31, was playing in his first MLB game in two weeks after a stint on the injured list due to an elbow injury. The two-time All-Star was off to a rough start to the year with a .150 batting average and three home runs through 41 games. As such, the statistics supported the move with Muncy batting .125 this year against lefties and Turner batting .259 this year when he has two strikes against a lefty.
The career numbers for the players involved suggested it was a more dangerous call, though.
Muncy's home run made the score 10-5 and the Dodgers went on to win the game, 11-9. Muncy finished the game with five RBI and Turner finished the game 1-4 with one RBI.
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