Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Whit Merrifield was critical of the team again on Wednesday when discussing the controversial decision to pull starter Jose Berrios in the fourth inning of last week’s season-ending loss to the Minnesota Twins.
“Jose was locked in and I can guarantee if he had cruised through that lineup again a second time, that third time it wouldn’t have mattered,” Merrifield said on the “Foul Territory” podcast. “His stuff was sharp, he was cruising, he had that competitor, get-out-of-my-way look in his eyes. I think a lot of times that gets lost in the way we evaluate today’s game. It’s a shame.”
Merrifield told Sports Illustrated in the immediate aftermath of the decision that he “hated” the call to replace the right-handed Berrios with left-hander Yusei Kikuchi after the starter walked the first batter of the fourth inning in what was a scoreless Game 2 of the wild-card series.
Two runs ended up scoring that inning — and the Blue Jays lost 2-0.
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“The gameplan was from my understanding was communicated to the pitching staff before the game, the pitching staff kind of knew what the plan was pre-game,” Merrifield said. “I think in Jose’s mind he was pitching so well, he thought he may have earned another couple batters, another couple innings. So when Schneid (manager John Schneider) came out, he knew they were going to do what they talked about (before the game).”
Merrifield, who did not start in Game 2 and could be a free agent this off-season if the team and player do not pick up an $18-million mutual option, said Berrios let out his frustration “in a professional way” — away from television cameras and fans.
“He was just frustrated because he wanted the ball, he wanted the chance to put team on his back and keep our season going and he didn’t get that chance past the third inning,” Merrifield said.
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Schneider was emotional about the decision after the game, saying fans were free to second-guess himself or the organization.
Three days later, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said the decision was Schneider’s to make — which has caused fans and reporters to wonder aloud about the team’s internal communication.
Blue Jays president/CEO Mark Shapiro is scheduled to address reporters on Thursday for the first time since the season ended.
Merrifield said he doesn’t know exactly how the decisions are made by the Blue Jays, but did say the pitching staff had an idea what the plan was. Still, he feels the Twins had every right to be happy when Berrios came out.
“I think they said post-game they were excited we took him out. If I was on the other side and had to face Jose and he had his A stuff and I only had to face him one time, I think I’d be pretty excited,” Merrifield said.
Overall, Merrifield wonders if analytics can be used more effectively by teams.
“I get so frustrated with analytics. What’s the saying? Paralysis by analysis,” he said. “You can’t make it a crutch. You can use it to help you but you can’t just rely on it.”
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