Banister’s Decision To Start Playoffs With Hammels Doomed Texas Against Toronto

Baltimore manager Buck Schowalter took a lot of heat, from fans as well as baseball pundits, because he did not use closer Zach Britton in the Wild Card game on Tuesday, October 4 in Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The Orioles ended up losing the game 5-2 on an eleventh inning three run walk off homer by Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays.

When Texas manager Jeff Banister made a crucial mistake with his pitching rotation before being swept by the Blue Jays, he suffered absolutely no backlash from those same pundits who had been so quick to criticize Schowalter. Nevertheless, Banister’s decision to start Cole Hammels in game one of the American League Division Series placed the Rangers in a hole that very well could have been avoided.

It is obvious that a left hander might struggle against the lineup of Toronto, whose power bats all belong to right handed hitters. Besides Encarnacion the Jays have 2015 A.L. Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson, All-Star slugger Jose Bautista and shortstop Troy Tulowitski all swinging from the right side of the plate. That quartet would be much more intimidating to a left handed hurler like Hammels.

A cursory check of baseball-reference.com could have served as another red flag not to start Hammels. It was at home, where Hammels has fared much worse than on the road. The opponents’ batting average in Arlington is .274, compared to. 216 everywhere else. Sixty percent of the 24 home runs he gave up came in Arlington, in spite of the fact that he actually made more starts on the road.

Besides the numbers just mentioned, Banister should have considered the fact that Hammels has never beaten Toronto in his ten year big league career. His earned run average against the Blue Jays is a career worst 6.97, and the Jays are also hitting.348 against him, by far the highest of any other team.

Even though Hammels was the team leader in victories, Banister should have saved him for game three on the road. He would still have to face those fearsome right handed hitters, but at least then he would have had two additional games to scout them and prepare.

Banister did have other options, including AJ Griffin. A right hander, he gave up just three hits in six innings in a start against Toronto on May 2, a game the Rangers won 2-1. He struck out nine but, more important, Toronto’s power quartet of Donaldson, Encarnacion, Bautista and Tulowitski went just one for ten against Griffin.

A lefty with a much better record against Toronto was also an option for Banister. Martin Perez in a May start held Toronto scoreless in his five innings of work, and a week later he yielded just one run in six and a third innings in another star against the Blue Jays. All in all, Perez this season boasted an ERA of 0.68 against Toronto.

Instead of exploring better options, the Texas manager unwisely allowed Hammels to start the series. Toronto’s sluggers pounded him, just as they have done throughout his career. The Blue Jays rode that momentum into game two, scoring five early runs and hanging on to take a two game to none lead heading to Toronto.

Game three, which the Rangers led several times before losing 7-6 in ten innings, could have been much different had Banister not started the series with a pitcher who has been at his worst against the Blue Jays.

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