This is the opposite of the mistake that Bobby Cox made in the 2002 NLDS. That year, the Braves had an elite bullpen (a welcome change from the Nineties when the bullpen was the team’s Achilles Heel) and yet they were eliminated because Bobby started Glavine in Game One and then on short rest on Game Four. The latter was Bad Glavine and the Braves blew their chance to win the series. The correct deployment would have been Millwood in Games One and Five (he was the team’s best starter over the second half of the season) with Glavine, Maddux, and Moss (with a short hook) in the middle three.
So anyway, I approve of Walt’s reasoning. Don’t put a veteran starter on short rest. Make sure that your ace has maximal impact.
When you’re “outgunned, outmanned and out planned”, you have to take some risks. Kudos to Walt for taking the risk and to the team for making it pay off.
Lindsay, how much of Weiss’ decision and its timing do you think were to keep the Dodgers off balance? We know LA put in a lot of work during their bye to deal with Sale. Does Walt have another layer we haven’t necessarily seen before?
And lastly, in addition to his on field performance, I’ve been very impressed with Kerr’s post game comments. Smoltz did a poor job interviewing him last night, but Kerr’s demeanor and responses were A+.
Tuesday's game is shaping up to be a tense, tight battle. Yamamoto is nails ( in my opinion he's their ace, even over Skubal). We need some production from Acuna and Yaz.
Of course Sale wanted the ball...he's an effing DAWG! But sometimes, a manager has to protect the player from themselves.
Walt would have been second guessed from here to eternity if the Braves had lost yesterday but it worked out and I'm glad it did.
Now, it's a best of 3. We have home field advantage and we've got our #1 and #2 starting pitchers going in games 3 and 4.
Are we 61% favorites to win the NLDS? No, but our odds are a helluva lot better than they were after losing on Saturday! Go Braves!!
This is the opposite of the mistake that Bobby Cox made in the 2002 NLDS. That year, the Braves had an elite bullpen (a welcome change from the Nineties when the bullpen was the team’s Achilles Heel) and yet they were eliminated because Bobby started Glavine in Game One and then on short rest on Game Four. The latter was Bad Glavine and the Braves blew their chance to win the series. The correct deployment would have been Millwood in Games One and Five (he was the team’s best starter over the second half of the season) with Glavine, Maddux, and Moss (with a short hook) in the middle three.
So anyway, I approve of Walt’s reasoning. Don’t put a veteran starter on short rest. Make sure that your ace has maximal impact.
When you’re “outgunned, outmanned and out planned”, you have to take some risks. Kudos to Walt for taking the risk and to the team for making it pay off.
Lindsay, how much of Weiss’ decision and its timing do you think were to keep the Dodgers off balance? We know LA put in a lot of work during their bye to deal with Sale. Does Walt have another layer we haven’t necessarily seen before?
And lastly, in addition to his on field performance, I’ve been very impressed with Kerr’s post game comments. Smoltz did a poor job interviewing him last night, but Kerr’s demeanor and responses were A+.
Tuesday's game is shaping up to be a tense, tight battle. Yamamoto is nails ( in my opinion he's their ace, even over Skubal). We need some production from Acuna and Yaz.