Toronto Blue Jays manager Schneider throws shade at Mariners' costly bullpen decision
John Schneider believes a questionable bullpen decision helped lead the Toronto Blue Jays to their ALCS victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Playing in Game 7 on Monday night, the crowd at Rogers Centre was rather quiet heading into the seventh inning, as the Jays found themselves down 3-1 with just nine outs remaining. That emotion from the crowd changed dramatically soon after.
With two on and one out in the seventh inning, Mariners manager Dan Wilson opted to bring Eduard Bazardo out of the bullpen rather than All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz. It was an interesting decision given that Bazardo had pitched two innings in Game 6 the night prior, while Muñoz was well rested.
“I honestly thought Dan was bringing in [Gabe] Speier to maybe force a pinch-hit at [Nathan Lukes], knowing that he had [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.] behind him,” Schneider said. “I was a little surprised it was Bazardo. As soon as Bazardo came in out of the pen, I said ‘Okay, he’s pitching to Georgie. Game on. Georgie’s got the upper hand no matter what.’
“[Bazardo] has great stuff. I see his numbers, .160 average versus righties, 12 strikeouts, one walk, whatever it was. On paper, it makes sense. We had the upper hand as soon as that happened. If you’re going to pitch to George, go ahead.”
“I was a little surprised it was [Eduard] Bazardo. As soon as we saw him out of the pen, I said ‘Game on.’”#BlueJays manager John Schneider looks back on George Springer’s clutch home run with @SNJeffBlair & Kevin Barker. #WANTITALL
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As Schneider is well aware, it’s much easier to critique these decisions with the benefit of hindsight. It was just two games prior that he was blasted by fans and media across Canada after deciding to go with relief pitcher Brendon Little in a game the Jays were leading 2-1.
Little immediately gave up a game-tying home run before walking the next two batters he faced. The Jays wound up losing that game by a 6-2 final.
Schneider opted for a much different approach going forward, specifically in Game 7, where he called on both Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt to come out of the bullpen to help secure the victory. It will be fascinating to see what types of bullpen strategies he attempts versus the Dodgers.