After Game 3 win, Atlanta Braves critics are pearl-clutching this morning

The Bigger Pictures

The stats people were all over this Game 3, noting that this game’s winner determines nearly 70% of World Series champions in a series tied at 1-all.

Don’t listen to that, for while the Atlanta Braves now have this 2-1 edge, they have bigger issues coming up.  Atlanta’s coach only had 3 horses pulling it, and one of them is now lame.

The reality of losing Charlie Morton is about to kick in in a big way, and one thing that might have been in the back of his head Friday night was this:  he might very well need Anderson back for a Game 7 in Houston.

That would happen on November 3rd on regular rest for him (along with Max Fried being fully ready for Game 6), but extending Anderson here in Game 3 might have put that contingency plan in jeopardy.

The Braves already have one Pyrrhic victory in hand, thanks to winning Game 1 and losing Morton in the process.  Extending Anderson on Friday night could have risked losing him for the rest of the series.

Don’t forget, too, that Anderson’s shoulder acted up in mid-July, resulting in a stint on the Injured List that lasted six full weeks.

The World Series is not a sprint… it’s a marathon (or at least it seem like that whenever Dusty Baker is changing pitchers).  It’s also not about a single game or a single event that might or might not happen.

Different Strokes

You might ask “what about Blake Snell being pulled from World Series Game 6 in 2020?”  Fair question, but this is also a different case.

Snell was in total command:  2 hits allowed, 1 run, nine strikeouts and no walks as he pitched in the 6th.

Snell’s pitch count was only 73 (with nearly 66% strikes) and he’d only faced 18 batters.  Oh, but that dreaded 19th batter meant that he would begin his third trek through the batting order, and that’s why he was removed with 1 out in the 6th.

That was a bad call:  a dominating pitcher needs to stay in the game.  But that’s not what Anderson looked like on Friday.

Anderson was gritty, gutty, and determined, but he also wasn’t particularly sharp.

In 1995, Tom Glavine was gritty, gutty, determined, and sharp.  Again:  not the same thing.

Of further note… win or lose, that was going to be Glavine’s last game of the year (something Kevin Cash might have considered more strongly before removing Snell last year).

It was okay for Bobby Cox to let Glavine” empty the tank” then… and he was used to doing that anyway.

It was a good and proper call for Brian Snitker to take Anderson out early… and indeed, it was after exactly 18 batters.  There are a lot more outs that still need to be recorded in this 2021 World Series, and Anderson may very well need to be a part of that.

But if you want to make a point about the state of pitching in today’s era — please:  make it.  The game would be much better off without 4 or 5 innings and a parade of relievers.  Just please don’t use Game 3 to stake your claims.