Tony La Russa intentionally walked a batter….with two strikes?
It’s safe to say White Sox manager Tony La Russa broke a lot of people’s brains Thursday — my own included.
It was the bottom of the 6th inning in the Thursday afternoon contest between Chicago and the Los Angeles Dodgers. An inning removed from recording its first six runs of the game, Freddie Freeman’s two-out RBI single off White Sox LHP Bennett Sousa to left field put the Dodgers ahead 7-5.
Trae Turner, who was 1-for-3 with an RBI heading into the plate appearance stepped up to the plate. First pitch? Strike. Second pitch? Strike; 0-2 count and one pitch away from getting out of the inning and preserving the lead. The third pitch got away from Sousa, as it was a wild pitch where Freeman advanced to second.
So there’s now a 1-2 count, two outs and a runner on second with the tying run at the plate. With Turner at the dish, White Sox manager Tony La Russa then preceded to….intentional walk him? With two strikes? As the tying runner? With two outs? Yes. Yes, he did. Not a typo.
As White Sox play-by-play commentator Jason Benetti pointed out, the league-average batting average with two strikes is “quite low.” He’s correct. How low you ask? The major league average this season with two strikes is .172 with a 49 wRC+, per FanGraphs; to add on, it’s .170 with a 50 wRC+ with two strikes and two outs.
In fact, over the last 10 seasons, the league-wide batting average with two strikes and two outs has yet to be greater than .177 without an wRC+ greater than 50; combined, MLB sports a .171/.248/.268 slash line with a 42 wRC+ in such situations, per FanGraphs. Not great for the hitters!
But wait, there’s more!
Five pitches later, in a 2-2 count, La Russa didn’t request an intentional walk for Max Muncy like he did for Turner. Progress! Instead, Muncy launched a 2-2 slider the opposite way for a three-run home run! Poetic justice as its finest.
Personally, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life, even though it’s apparently happened before in similar circumstances:
La Russa thought otherwise; in the postgame, when he was asked about it, La Russa acted like the decision was a no-brainer.
“I mean is that really a question? …. That wasn’t a tough call.”
In (very slight) fairness to La Russa, Muncy was 2-for-20 (.100) with a 67 wRC+ in two-strike counts against left-handed pitching this season; Turner was 7-for-27 (.259) with a 105 wRC+.
Nevertheless, intentionally walking a hitter with two strikes and two outs is as reprehensible of a managerial decision as I’ve seen in baseball this season. Perhaps even longer.
If he was so fixated on his average with two strikes, then why didn’t he walk him on 0-2? Why waste another pitch? Not to mention, Turner’s career batting average in an 0-0 count against LHP (.360) supersedes everything number I just mentioned. Why not intentionally walk him there if you had any plans to at all?
Rant over. It’s logic that doesn’t compute in my brain whatsoever. But hey, what do I know?
Even with the White Sox’s ninth-inning rally, the Dodgers still by two, 11-9. You subtract the three runs from the Dodgers, and…..? Just some food for thought.
