The Baltimore Orioles lost a heart breaker to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wild Card Game in 11 innings. Orioles manager Buck Showalter took a lot of heat for never putting his stud closer, Zack Britton, in the game.
And the criticism is 100 percent warranted.
How do you not use your best pitcher in a do-or-die game? What good is he doing for you when he is sitting in the bullpen? Yes, Showalter wanted to use him in a save situation. But I would have rather used him in the 11th and 12th innings and lose in the 13th than not use him at all and lose in the 11th.
Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona showed how it is done by using his two best relief pitchers, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen, for 40 pitches each in their game one versus the Boston Red Sox. He held nothing back. He is going to use those two until their arms fall off, unlike how the Orioles used their bullpen. Britton could have easily went two innings during the wild card game.
You have to let your best players decided the biggest games. Britton might win the AL Cy Young Award. He is having the best season for a reliever in quite some time. His earned run average (ERA) this year was 0.54. That is bonkers. Too bad for Orioles fans he is still sitting in the visiting bullpen in Toronto waiting for his number to be called.
Some people have been calling for Showalter to be fired. This is a fireable offense no doubt. But I think the Orioles are pleased with their success under him and want to keep him around. I think they are somewhat surprised they were able to even make the playoffs.
Buck Showalter is a solid manager. Unfortunately, he overthought things during the wild card game. It looks worse now, too, since Toronto is up two games to none in their series against the Texas Rangers. The "what could have been" will bother the Orioles and their fans for quite some time.
Mike Smith is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University. What is your opinion of the Showalter's decision? Let Mike know by emailing him at ms983012@ohio.edu.
