San Francisco Giants: Did Bruce Bochy Make the Call with His Gut?
San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy had a huge decision to make Tuesday night. His starting pitcher had thrown a near-perfect eight innings. His team had a comfortable lead and they would get another at-bat if things went south. But how far south could they go? Bochy made the call and by now we all know the rest of the story. Or do we?
Matt Moore, a midseason acquisition by the San Francisco Giants from the Tampa Bay Rays, had pitched perhaps the strongest eight innings of his career giving up a mere two runs (one earned) on two hits and striking out 10 in a do-or-die game. He had also thrown 120 pitches, enough to create a dilemma in the Giants dugout.
Over the weekend, Bruce Bochy‘s counterpart in the Cubs dugout, Joe Maddon, had been asked about Bochy’s style of managing and he didn’t hesitate replying, “He’s a cowboy. He’ll do anything and when you’re managing against a cowboy it’s always interesting.”
But there was no cowboy in Bochy on Tuesday night. If there was, he would have sent Moore out to pitch the ninth with a plan to face at least two hitters while keeping the bullpen cranking on high.
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Because at that point in the game, historically, there was only a 2.5 percent chance that the Cubs would recover from a three-run deficit to go ahead. In fact, the Cubs tied the postseason record for coming back, equaling the feat of the New York Mets when the ball rolled through the legs of Bill Buckner in the 1986 World Series.
Of course, this is all Monday morning quarterbacking now, but the point is germane because the decision he made is so unlike Bochy. And when you add in the fact that his bullpen with seven blown saves in August and early September nearly buried the Giants, it becomes even more intriguing.
Add to that the fact that Matt Moore was on cruise control for the entire game and it becomes even more strange. Because when pitch counts are considered, usually the number of “stress pitches” counts more than the number of actual pitches thrown. But Moore was never in real trouble. In fact, he had faced only four over the minimum 24 over eight innings.
Bruce Bochy has nothing to be ashamed about. He’s pioneered the Giants to three world championships in the last six years.
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But you have to wonder why his head (and the “bullpen rules” thinking of today) and not his heart made that fateful decision that night. And maybe we’ll never know, but he just might be asking himself that same question right now.