In the wake of the crushing game five NLDS defeat to the Washington Nationals that ended the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2019 season, Pedro Martinez was one of the pundits second-guessing. Indeed, TBS followed up with their postgame show, and with Martinez on the analyst desk; he didn’t mince words.
Furthermore – Martinez was so proud of his take – he filmed it on his phone and posted it on his personal twitter account.
I wonder who is calling the shots… analytics department, management or the manager? #ladodgers #Postseason pic.twitter.com/E8yFkd6z03
— Pedro Martinez (@45PedroMartinez) October 10, 2019
Surely, we all second guess the decisions made in the late innings of game five by manager Dave Roberts. Therefore, when you read Martinez’s comments, they’re really worth reading back twice. To preface things, this is a subject that many of you will feel passionately about. If you’re prepared, read ahead to what Martinez said.
“I wonder if it’s the analytics department that the Dodgers have, that have Dave Roberts kind of forced into saying what the plan is. Because Walker Buehler even though he came out of the game – and it was time for him to come out – but to announce it early? To say that Kershaw was coming in?”
While we have all made the tongue-in-cheek half serious jokes about the computers or algorithms ‘upstairs’ deciding on the lineup, or who plays, or even relievers entering; Martinez seems hip to this. Moreover, he seems dead serious.
Notably in the second half of his diatribe, he says that Clayton Kershaw has been ‘over-exposed’ to the entire league.
“Kershaw is a guy who has been over-exposed to the entire league. Everyone is aware of Kershaw and he hasn’t been healthy the last three years like you would like to be. This is a guy everyone knows. So if you tell people that he’s going to be in the game at any point, they prepare for him. And I wonder if it’s the analytics department that does that, or if it’s management upstairs the order to say those things. If I was Walker Buehler, I would be pissed.”
Finally, it’s obvious that Roberts has made enough blunders through the years that it’s fair to second guess to a degree. But Martinez brings up a good point. What if it wasn’t Roberts who was behind all of the little drips that led to a Los Angeles collapse?
The answer we will probably never know, but that doesn’t make Martinez’s take on things any less interesting.