The Toronto Blue Jays were eliminated from the postseason with their AL Wild Card loss to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday, and one decision they made in the game has been heavily scrutinized both internally and externally.
Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios allowed just three hits and struck out five through the first three innings of Toronto’s 2-0 loss. When Berrios led off the bottom of the 4th inning by walking Royce Lewis, Blue Jays manager John Schneider pulled the right-hander from the game.
Berrios had thrown just 47 pitches at that point. Schneider felt left-hander Yusei Kikuchi was a better option with two left-handed hitters — Max Kepler and Alex Kirilloff — due up next. The analytics play backfired, as the next three batters all reached base and Minnesota took a 2-0 lead. That was all the Twins needed to complete the two-game sweep.
When asked about the decision to pull Berrios so early, infielder Whit Merrifield did not hold back.