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Aaron Boone approached the mound with a goal. His starting pitcher had given everything, but the time had come to change. The Yankees manager stretched out his right hand to ask for the ball, offered a reassuring pat and then sent Luis Severino to the showers. It was time for the office to go to work.
What made this pitching change so fascinating was its timing. Before the start, Severino, the starter of Wednesday night, had recorded only 12 outs. He had not scored A's goal in his first four innings. And he had only allowed two shots, the two having just started the fifth – meaning that a few minutes earlier he was working on a non-hitter.
Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable to shoot your starting pitcher and try to get a shutout in the fifth inning, even in the playoff game. In this case, Severino had thrown only 87 pitches, helping his team to build a 2-0 lead. Damn, a decade ago, a majority of managers might have left it fifth, without any reason more complicated than lining up his pitcher for the win.
That's not how baseball works in 2018. When Boone came out of the dugout in the fifth round of the Yankees Wild Card Game against Oakland, his mind went to the previous round, while Severino had worked on very stressful bases. jam loaded. Severino's lack of control that resulted in four walks in Oakland replaced the current shut-in. And the idea of letting his thrower inside to reach an arbitrary milestone in the game, in the hope of pursuing a meaningless statistic, would be considered misguided, incredibly stupid and would require trouble – if Boone thought about it at all.
the The Yankees beat the A at 7-2, moving to the Division Division of the League where they will face their rivals Boston. And as the batters Aaron Judge, Luke Voit and Giancarlo Stanton helped lead the Bronx Bombers to victory, the turning point of the match came when the second Boone took his first step on the field, towards Severino.
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But the 2018 Betances were a different pitcher than the one we had seen in 2017. In both cases, he had claimed to be one of the most prolific artists in the history of the major leagues. Instead of going around the world, Betances reduced its base rate of dizzying balls by 16.9% last season at a rate of 9.6% slightly elevated but much more manageable this year. He had managed to reach an astronomical rate of 42.3%, a new career high. Aside from the numbers, Betances was now doing what the old baseball heads attached the most to the value of the pitchers: he trusted his business. Even in the most stress – free nerves, Betances thought he could launch any of his throws at any time and any of them to perform strikes.
So when Chapman, who had the mighty power, was trying to give the A's lead in this do-or-die game, Betances decided not to give in, just throwing a very hard, but potentially straight, fastball. Instead, he fired an American fist, a superb brave yakker at 90 km / h, which cut the outer corner by the tiniest of margins. Considering Betances' score, playing situation and frequent fight to overcome a staggering order, this curve will become one of the biggest pitchers of the entire 2018 season.
Two steps later, Betances took a step almost identical, inducing a weak flyout to the right field. Just like that, he had flipped his sleeve when the Yankees needed it the most.
Betances managed to deceive the next batter by throwing a fast ball into the middle that produced nothing more than another harmless free kick. This paved the way for the Betances slaughter with the 48-seat planetary eater, Davis. Discover the three delightful curves Betances has unleashed to hit Davis and put an end to what would prove to be Oakland's biggest threat at night:
In all, 15 of 25 shots thrown by Betances on Wednesday were curved, with 11 of the 15 shots on strike. When he did not bend the reality with this curvature, he dropped his ball fast to 99 mph. It was Betances at its absolute best, just when he really needed it.
Now here's the really scary part for the Yankees' opponents in the playoffs, starting with the Red Sox: Betances is only a devastating arm in an enclosure that is absolutely filled. Chad Green was the multi-legged terror that hit more than six batters for each stride. David Robertson was the near old who prospered alongside Betances in an installation role. Acquiring Transaction Deadlines Zach Britton added an experienced leftist to a pen stuffed with right-handed people. And Aroldis Chapman remained the fire-breathing blocker whose high-end fastball exceeded 103 mph. The Yankees lifters led the majors this year in wins over replacements and stoppage rates, proving all season that they could stand high volumes and hitches.
The equivalent of the National League in New York is Milwaukee. Milwaukee. Brewers lifters led the NL in terms of stopping rates, ranking second behind the surprising San Diego in Wins Above Replacement. The crew of the crew has improved over the course of the season. Corey Knebel went from All-Star 2017 to be sent to minors on August 23rd. But his last month looks like something torn apart by a video game: 14 innings, 30 strikeouts, 3 outs, 5 hits and a score of 0.00. Knebel's genius at the end of the season has definitely solidified the best trio of respite for the remaining dam team, with Andrew Miller's clone, Josh Hader, and right-hander Jeremy Jeffress smothering all opponents in sight. Joakim Soria, a veteran right-hander, and you have another ridiculously deep paddock, armed and ready for October.
If the Yankees and Brewers are able to qualify for the sixth inning of each playoff game, bet the farm gets the goal. But even that might underestimate what these two teams could do with their loaded pens. Thanks to the frequent days off throughout the month, Craig Counsell, the Boone and Brewers manager for the Yankees, could further strengthen their relief team. Neither New York nor Milwaukee have an elite rotation, making quick skirmishes even more likely.
Final Result: Boone, who will be coming out in the fifth quarter to have his starter in the middle of a shutout, could be less rigorous compared to the aggressive way he and Counsell could use their pens in the days and nights. weeks to come. The game has already changed so much, less and less managers push their starters in the heart of games. If we get a world-wide Yankees-Brewers series, the whole universe of baseball could tip over.
Special thanks to Nick Pollack for helping with this piece. Nick will collaborate on CBS Sports baseball content throughout the playoffs. You can find more Nick's work on his site List of launchers and at FanGraphs.
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