Blue Jays 0-Twins 2 | What is a manager for?

José Berríos had a thunderous start. One of his best of the season. The power hitters of the Minnesota Twins, first in the American League in home runs, were struggling to make contact.

After 47 pitches, the Toronto Blue Jays starter had already managed five strikeouts and limited his opponents to three measly singles. He was in his zone. Exactly where the team envisioned him, when they offered him a 131 million contract. On the mound, in full control, in the most important game of the season.

At the start of the fourth inning, Berríos found himself facing the Twins’ best hitter, Royce Lewis, who hit two home runs Tuesday. Big duel. After eight pitches, Lewis drew a walk. That’s when Jays manager John Schneider came out of the dugout.

No. No no no no no. Impossible. He won’t dare. He won’t replace Berríos so early in the match? Well yes. Algorithms don’t have feelings. Advanced stats showed that Yusei Kikuchi, a left-handed reliever, had a better chance of retiring the next batter, a left-hander. By a pretty significant margin, too. Almost 5%.

I’m a big believer in advanced statistics. I was a member of an association of nerds ball stats (yes, that exists). I even write a few paragraphs of my columns in Excel. But I am able to recognize that there are situations where emotional intelligence must take precedence over artificial intelligence. Berríos shone.

His confidence level was similar to that of Rickey Henderson, in his period when the Oakland A’s outfielder spoke of himself in the third person. Being the manager of the Jays on Wednesday night, I would have taken the plan prepared before the game, I would have cut it into small cubes, I would have swallowed it and trusted my instinct.

Otherwise, what is the point of a head coach?

John Schneider preferred to rely on algorithms. Under the circumstances, that took hippopotamus balls. “I have so much to say, and yet I have no words,” reacted former reliever John Axford on the X network. “I hated it,” commented Whit Merrifield after the meeting.

This decision was reminiscent of that of Kevin Cash, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, when he removed his ace Blake Snell from Game 6 of the 2020 World Series, while the latter was having the game of his life. The Los Angeles Dodgers immediately followed up with two runs, en route to the championship.

Yusei Kikuchi therefore came on in relief. It was 0-0, with Lewis on first base. Then the sky fell on the heads of Torontonians.

The German Kepler: simple.

Substitute Solano: walk.

The injured Correa: simple.

Kepler came in to score on a double play.

Twins 2, Jays 0.

These were the only points of the meeting.

“Honestly, I don’t know why [j’ai été retiré] », replied Berríos to the journalists present. “I don’t control that. I did my best against the first 12 batters. »

Well, obviously, Yusei Kikuchi is not the only culprit. The Blue Jays still had five innings at bat after that. They had some great chances. But the baseball gods punished them severely.

The next inning, the Jays found themselves with two runners in scoring position and their best hitter, Bo Bichette, at bat. Camped on the second cushion, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has made himself comfortable. He was so comfortable that he never saw shortstop Carlos Correa sneak up behind him like a pickpocket. Pitcher Sonny Gray turned around as quickly as Lucky Luke, he passed the ball to Correa, and Guerrero was wrong-footed. Perfect execution. For the Twins, of course, not for Guerrero.

In the sixth inning, the Torontonians came back to attack. They loaded the bases, except that slugger Matt Chapman was caught in a double play. Another missed opportunity.

This short two-of-three series was a reflection of the Jays’ season. The pitchers (except Kikuchi) performed well. But the attack disappointed, with only one small point in two games. The Jays season is over. That of the Twins and Édouard Julien will continue on Saturday against the defending champions, the Houston Astros. A very, very big mouthful.

The Twins are largely neglected according to… the algorithms.

Édouard Julien: 1 in 4

Quebecer Édouard Julien is one of three Twins hitters to have hit a single against José Berríos. It was a beautiful shot, hit to the opposite field, along the third base line. During another shift, he reached first base following a bad throw from Bo Bichette. He was removed from the meeting in favor of Kyle Farmer, an alternate runner.