Why did Mike Schildt substitute T.J. McFarland with Alex Reyes? Cardinals supervisor explains determination in NL wild-card loss to Dodgers

Viewers of the NL wild-card sport between the Cardinals and the Dodgers on Wednesday evening might need been confused as to why there have been two industrial breaks, practically back-to-back, within the backside of the ninth inning.

Initially, the Cardinals despatched right-hander Giovanny Gallegos again out to the mound after he pitched the eighth — however when the Dodgers introduced Gavin Lux would pinch-hit, the Cardinals switched pitchers once more, this time to southpaw T.J. McFarland, forcing TBS to chop again to industrial.

The choice, whereas at first unclear to viewers, was a pivotal one. Gallegos had been the staff’s greatest reliever and had thrown simply 12 pitches the earlier inning. However supervisor Mike Schildt wasn’t executed; after McFarland bought the primary two batters out within the inning, he walked Cody Bellinger and was set to face Chris Taylor. That is when Schildt made one other transfer to the bullpen to usher in Alex Reyes, who threw simply 4 pitches. The final was a dangling slider that Taylor blasted over the left discipline wall for a two-run homer to win the sport 3-2 and remove the Cardinals.

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After the sport, Schildt defined why he made these choices. He stated Gallegos was coping with a “nail subject that prevented him from going again out” for the ninth, and that he solely wished to ship his ace reliever to the mound within the last inning to drive the Dodgers to burn Lux, a left-handed hitter. When McFarland got here in, the Dodgers pulled Lux again — eliminating him from additional utilization within the sport since he had already been introduced — and introduced in Albert Pujols, who has mashed left-handed pitching this season.

“We have McFarland in there, maintain them on the bottom, you understand it is uncomfortable at bats,” Schildt stated after the sport. “We all know they will go to Albert and (Steven Souza Jr.), however we wished a man that is going to be across the plate, on the plate. Received by means of these two guys.”

Nail points are widespread for pitchers, given the way in which they’re pressured to grip and throw the ball. Schildt defined that, in truth, it has been a “recurring factor with a few of our guys.”

McFarland has been about as a lot of a groundball specialist as a staff may ask for. The 32-year-old compiled a 2.56 ERA in 2021, regardless of a 14.6 p.c strikeout fee. The chief cause? A ridiculous 63.7 p.c groundball fee that ranked fifth within the majors amongst relievers with no less than 30 innings of labor.

Having McFarland face Pujols and Souza was of venture. McFarland has allowed right-handers a hard-hit fee of 42.3 p.c this season, they usually have a .739 OPS in opposition to him. To not point out, Schildt knew who Dave Roberts would ship out to face McFarland.

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Pujols, a future Corridor of Famer, has thrived in opposition to left-handed pitching this season to a .294/.336/.603 slash line, with 13 of his 17 residence runs coming in opposition to southpaws. Nevertheless, he has additionally hit into the next groundball fee in opposition to lefties than righties, with a 48.3 p.c groundball fee vs. southpaws. He lined out to heart. Souza hasn’t seen constant enjoying time in years — simply 67 plate appearances since 2018 — and whereas he launched 30 homers in 2017, he has simply seven since then. He, too, lined out to heart.

Disaster averted, proper? Enter Bellinger. It has been a depressing marketing campaign for the 2019 NL MVP. He has slashed .165/.240/.302 and has appeared to be a shell of his former self. In opposition to lefties, he had a .116/.208/.174 slash line, although his stroll fee of 10.4 p.c was practically 2 p.c higher than that in comparison with righties. And what did he do in opposition to McFarland? He drew a stroll.

Now Schildt had one other determination to make: Ought to McFarland face Taylor? The reply to that was a powerful no. Taylor slashed .296/.371/.526 in opposition to lefties this season. With a complete groundball fee of 36.3 p.c (36.4 p.c in opposition to lefties), he wasn’t an incredible matchup in opposition to McFarland, and Schildt knew that.

“Taylor’s actually good in opposition to lefties. He is not a man that is on the bottom loads,” Schildt stated. “We have a man with swing and miss stuff. We have a man that (has) just a little greater strikeouts in opposition to righties so we have a bonus.”

Right here is the place the issue lay. Schildt wasn’t referring to ace Jack Flaherty, who has pitched out of the bullpen since getting back from the injured listing. It wasn’t Kodi Whitley, who since being recalled from Memphis on Aug. 28 had a 0.00 ERA with an 11.40 Okay/9 and 1.64 FIP in 15 innings. It was Reyes. On title worth, it does not seem to be a nasty choose. He was an All-Star simply this previous summer season and was electrical by means of the primary half of the season. However this wasn’t the identical Reyes who made it to Coors Area in July.

On Aug. 5, Reyes blew up. He did not document an out, allowed three runs on 4 walks and 5 hits. From that outing by means of the remainder of the season, Reyes had a 6.08 ERA in 23.2 innings and misplaced the nearer’s job. Whereas his strikeout numbers have been nonetheless up — with a 13.69 Okay/9 fee throughout that point — his stroll fee, too, was excessive at 5.32 BB/9. His residence run fee was 2.66 HR/9.

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The walks have been decrease previous to that sport — 10.91 Okay/9 — and the walks have been greater — 7.03 BB/9 — however he stored the ball within the yard with a 0.37 HR/9 and miniscule 4.4 p.c residence run-to-fly ball fee. Reyes’ stuff is electrical, however the current struggles made him of venture to show to with the sport on the road.

Popping out of the bullpen, Reyes instantly bought a swinging strike on an 87.5 mph slider; then Taylor took a slider and a changeup within the grime to achieve depend leverage at 2-1. Reyes’ slider spun proper over the guts of the plate, and the remainder is historical past.

“First couple sliders have been actually good, swings we have been anticipating, after which he bought one he may put a swing on,” Schildt stated. “That was the sport.”