Dodgers News: Tyler Anderson “Would Have Gone 150 Pitches If He Could”
Let’s face it. Last night was hard. We’re all still mourning what should have been a perfect ending to an incredible season but the reality of the situation is the Padres outperformed us when it mattered the most.
Tyler Anderson took the mound for Game 4 and put out an incredible 5 innings of work holding the Padres scoreless to our 2 runs. He delivered 6 strikeouts and only allowed 2 walks and 2 hits.
But, Dave Roberts decided to call it a day for Anderson and replace him with Brusador Graterol.
Many fans and even the commentators were baffled by the fact that the 7-year Dodgers skipper would take out Tyler Anderson who has been absolutely dominant all season long.
Anderson threw more than Saturday’s 86 pitches in 14 of his regular-season starts, pitching past the fifth inning 21 times.
He had this to say after the game about Doc’s mid-game decision:
“I could’ve gone five more (innings)…I would’ve thrown 150 pitches if they would’ve let me. But you never second guess that situation.”
Frankly, I don’t believe Anderson wasn’t questioning what could have happened if he had just stayed in the game, but Roberts has a track record of pulling guys early.
Julio Urias who got Game 1’s start only went 5 innings, Clayton Kershaw went 5, Tony Gonsolin only went 1 and 1/3 before Heaney backed him up with three innings.
Nonetheless, the Dodgers bullpen has been solid for the Dodgers this postseason in the damage control situations.
Heading into last night’s game, Dodgers pitching staff has held the Padres to a .115 average (3-for-26) with runners in scoring position across Games 1 through 3.
Anderson reflected on the quality of the bullpen this postseason:
“We have an unbelievable bullpen…They’ve been so good all year and they’ve helped us win so many games this year so you understand to try and piece this thing together and try to get us to tomorrow.”
Unfortunately, the pitching staff fell short of surviving and forcing a Game 5. Kahlne, Almonte, and Vesia gave up 5 crucial hits which contributed to 5 runs in the bottom of the seventh. And just like that the team’s season was ended because the Dodgers offense failed to respond only down by 2 runs at that point.
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NEXT: Fans Blame Series on Roberts’ Decisions
Roberts managed the Dodgers pitching to a NLDS failure!
If Roberts could get one thing through his thick skull- If it ain’t broke, DON’T FIX IT!! Every year he does this. You just DON’T take out pitchers who are pitching shutouts, (or perfect games) because of some idiotic pitch count idea. In past decades every pitcher pitched way more pitches and they didn’t get injured any more than these days. (And Anderson didn’t even have a high pitch count). Roberts wants to micromanage everything, like he’s supposed to be the star. I’ve been seeing this ever since he became manager. ANY manager could win 100+ games a year with the talent the Dodgers players have. They DON’T need him.
To say this series was a letdown would be an understatement. Honestly, it was an embarrassment to the game of baseball. While the offense was certainly missing, I will never understand the rationale for pulling starting pitchers early especially when they are healthy and winning. It makes zero sense!! The pitching decisions by Roberts and whoever else may be involved need to be called into question. This has gotten old. It must be frustrating to be pulled from a game when a pitcher is executing and pitching at such a high level. It’s really quite a travesty.
Some of the fondest memories I have were going to games with my family when Tommy Lasorda was manager. The energy and passion the players and manager had for the game was unmatched. Listening to Vinnie and being a part of that energy in the stadium was amazing. Those were the days for sure!
I’ve said it many times; “ the only things standing between the dodgers and a WS are the mgr and the GM” Roberts constantly removes pitchers based on some mythical pitch count resulting ln an overworked over exposed bullpen. How many times have the Padre hitters seen the stuff that the bullpen has ? The more you see a pitcher he eventually shows you every thing he’s got
I personally am an amateur experienced ball player ; let me face a pitcher four times and I’ll hit him
Imagine that situation to a major league hitter
Roberts had the nerve to criticize. His s hitters approach with runners on base. HUH??does he exhibit any. Other strategy than waiting for the three run homer??
Um, excuse me: Graterol did not pitch last nite. It was Martin which proved to be a good choice…probably one inning too soon though. Kahnle and Almonte were lights out in previous games. He avoided Graterol because of his “bad luck” with soft contact. Most folks were surprised to see Anderson pulled when he was. That’s on Roberts.
The reality is the relievers he employed didn’t make pitches they should have. To let Kim beat you is rediculous. He hadn’t caught up to a good fastball all series. He could have been had easily
We won in 2020 against the Rays with the help of this same kind of foolishness. The Rays manager pulled Blake Snell when he was dominating us because he was afraid to let him pitch thru the lineup again. The Padres have proven that to be wrong as they let him pitch deeper into games. Roberts witnessed all this but still didn’t learn!
And I read the comment “roberts will be back” why? Because he’s the perfect stooge for an ignorant medalsome FO
Anderson won’t be back next year unless Fraudberts is fired.
Yes, there is a “3rd time through the order” risk. But, there is also a risk running multiple relievers on back-to-back outings that someone “will not have it”. It’s a crap shoot. Pre-game, Roberts already hinted at a pre-emptive move to the pen. Analytics probably backed that up and almost predetermined pulling TA. But, those analytics are based upon regular season stats and the post-season (especially an elimination game) is a different beast. Roberts should be given more latitude to play the hot hand and let TA continue on a short-leash. Maybe Kahnle still poops the bed, but if TA goes 6+ maybe Kahnle is “saved” for game 5. Kahnle, in particular, was risky because there were basically no back-to-back stats to look at because he was out all season… analytically, that is flying blind.