Dodgers handed the World Series.


Dear Kevin Cash:

Thank you so much for removing Blake Snell in the sixth inning of last night’s game with your team leading 1-0. He was absolutely dominating. By removing him, you gave us a chance and we appreciate it. Very sporting of you.

I am not sure if you were watching the game but if you were, did you happen to notice how filthy Snell’s stuff was? The Dodgers were virtually helpless. They could not hit his pitches.

In case you missed it, Snell struck out the first three Dodger hitters, swinging. 

He struck out two of the three Dodgers hitters in the second inning, swinging.

He did give up a single to lead off the third and you probably should have pulled him immediately then. Once you lack perfection, what good are you?

In fact, you probably should have removed him from the game before the runner even touched first base. But you made the mistake of leaving him in. He struck out only one batter in the third. Sorry, but that’s on you.

He bounced back in the fourth inning, striking out all three Dodgers hitters again. All swinging. They simply could not do anything at all off him.

At this point, you had to start feeling sorry for the Dodgers and the thought of giving them a chance to get back in it had to start creeping into your head. 

You let Snell go into the fifth, against your better judgment. And the Dodgers unloaded on him. They connected with the ball three times, each resulting in an out. But it was obvious he was finished. The fact that they were able to even put wood on the ball was, rightfully so, cause for grave concern.

The first batter in the sixth inning popped up to second. But that made four Dodgers hitters in a row that Snell had failed to strike out. 

So, when the next batter singled, that was just too much. Yes, Mookie Betts and Corey Seager were the next two hitters due. And, yes, Snell had struck out both in both of their previous at-bats. But the chances of them hitting a pop up or a ground ball out in this situation was just too big of a risk to take, so Snell had to come out.

I don’t know if you know anything about analytics or math or statistics, but Mookie Betts slugged .218 against left-handed pitchers this year. That’s the worst in baseball. Blake Snell is left handed. Also, Betts was 0-for-5 against Snell this World Series, striking out four times. (Thanks for not letting facts get in the way of analytics.)

Oh, and Snell was already up to an unthinkable 72 pitches. That’s 72 pitches in one game. Not in a season. One. Game.

Oh, the humanity!

Blake Snell hadn’t been this dominating since 2018. And you know what happened then. He won a Cy Young award. But he didn’t win a World Series game that year. So, you were smart not to let history repeat itself.

Oh, and thank you for replacing him with a right-handed pitcher (see note above about Betts’s failures against lefties) who came into the game with a 5.02 ERA in the post-season. You may not have known that Nick Anderson (the pitcher you replaced Snell with) had giving up a run in six straight post-season appearances. 

Now seven.

If you are going to manage strictly by analytics, you might want to look into the numbers. 

Then again, it could be a case of you just panicked made a dumbass decision.

Anyway, I need to scoot. We are celebrating our beloved Dodgers World Series win made possible by your benevolence.

I will always remember this day. And, in particular, that moment when Snell was walking off the field, shaking his head in amazement, as one of the announcers was noting that Blake Snell had never been better.

So, once again, thanks greatly. You’re a pal. Thank you for pulling a starting pitcher our team could not possibly have scored on and, in the process, pulling one of the boneheadiest managerial decisions of all-time.

Oh, maybe someone didn’t tell you, but now there is no need for a Game 7 today. Have a nice winter.

Forever in your debt,

Every single fan of the Dodgers, World Series champions of 2020.

Rays stater Blake Snell reacts to being pulled from the game with a 1-0 lead that would be gone in two batters.