The White Sox first playoff appearance in 12 years came to an abrupt end on Thursday afternoon. Following the parade of pitching changes, the calls for Rick Renteria’s job have grown louder.
Managing a bullpen is one of the hardest things to do in sports but the White Sox were burning through pitchers so fast it seemed like Yolmer Sanchez was on track to pitch the ninth. It was a frustrating showing for a team that looked so dominant just two days earlier in Game 1.
White Sox hall of famer Frank Thomas offered a similar sentiment on the White Sox Postgame show saying “I’m upset about it because we understand all hands on deck, but you can’t warm up your bullpen after the first batter. That instills no confidence throughout your lineup, throughout your team, throughout your pitching staff.”
While the optics look bad is Rick Renteria really to blame? Here is a dive into his decision making in the White Sox first ever do or die game in franchise history.
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Choosing to starting Dane Dunning
Rick Renteria made it clear he wanted his starter to serve as more of an opener. With the season on the line he opted to give the ball to a rookie with only seven major league starts under his belt. That doesn’t look good on paper, but Dunning was a good candidate to fill the role of opener. He pitched in the college World Series so he has experience throwing under immense pressure. As a starting pitcher he is also used to taking the mound at the start of the game. Using a traditional reliever to open the game risks putting a guy in an unfamiliar situation and throwing them off their rhythm. The other option to take the ball was fellow starting pitcher Dylan Cease, whose struggles in the first inning have been well documented.
Pulling Dunning in the 1st
Dunning’s first postseason outing did not last long. He was pulled after only throwing 15 pitches. The A’s were threatening to score, but with two outs Dunning should have been allowed to try and work his way out of the jam. By giving him the quick hook you are sending a message to your offense that you have no confidence in them to score runs. You are also putting a ton of pressure on the rest of your bullpen to come up with 25 outs. Hindsight is 20/20, but this was a bad decision by Rick Renteria.
Using Aaron Bummer and Codi Heuer early in the game
Garrett Crochet was brought into the game to bail out Dane Dunning. This was not a bad move. The flamethrowing southpaw has yet to give up a run. On top of that his experience as a starter in college meant he could eat up multiple innings. According to Rick Renteria this was the plan. However, Crochet showed a dip in velocity and left the game with an apparent forearm injury. He only recording two outs. This put a wrinkle into Renteria’s plans so he called upon Aaron Bummer to take over.
Bummer had an ERA of below one (0.96) this season so he is a reliable option to put up some zeros. Bummer got two outs to end the second inning, but allowed a walk and a hit in to give the A’s a scoring opportunity. With only one out in the third Renteria did not want to take any chances. He asked Codi Heuer to come into the game. This was also not a bad decision by Renteria. Heuer has been excellent this season and has pitched multiple innings six times during the regular season. He did his job and wiggled his way out of the jam. That is where his success ended however as he proceeded to give up a two run homer to Sean Murphy to cut the Sox lead to one run.
Renteria was forced to burn through three of his best weapons out of the bullpen as a result of an injury and normally reliable relievers failing to record the outs they were supposed to. If things had panned out according to plan, Crochet would have taken the Sox to the third inning, with Bummer and Heuer combining to bridge the gap from the fourth to the sixth. The bullpen would be in a much better position with Rodon, Foster, Marshall and Colome still available.
Choosing to intentionally walk Chad Pinder
Carlos Rodon came into the game needing to record one out to get out of the fourth inning. Despite a rough relief appearance in Cleveland earlier in the season this was also not a bad move by Rick Renteria. Codi Heuer was showing signs of fatigue and Rodon has the endurance to make up for the innings, Crochet,Bummer, and Huer failed to cover. Unlike his outing in Cleveland he inherited no baserunners. However Rodon walked Tommy La Stella followed by Marcus Semien lacing a double to left field.
This is where a costly mistake was made. Renteria wanted Matt Foster to put out the fire, but Rodon had not met the three batter minimum so he opted to intentionally walk Chad Pinder. There are two problems with this decision. Number one, Rodon’s stuff was not terrible and he only needed to record one more out. His slider was sharp and it took a good piece of hitting from Semien to get on base. Number two, Chad Pinder is no world beater. He only hit .232 on the season, and walking him added decreased the margin for error for Matt Foster. Sure enough the pressure got to the rookie, Foster who walked two batters and the go ahead run.
Disastrous 5th Inning
A great at bat by Nomar Mazara tied the game for the White Sox. Evan Marshall trotted out of the bullpen in the 5th with the task of keeping the score tied. After recording two quick outs, a walk, a catcher’s interference and another walk loaded the bases for the second time in as many innings. A single off the bat of Chad Pinder scored a pair of runs that spelled doom for the White Sox. Bringing in Marshall was once again not a bad decision by Rick Renteria. Marshall has been one of the Sox most reliable relievers over the past two seasons. He had a respectable 2.38 ERA in the regular season. It was safe to assume he could get through a clean inning. A fluke catcher’s interference and his pitchers inability to find the strike zone is out of Renteria’s control.
The Verdict
Rick Renteria made two horrible decisions in this game. Pulling Dane Dunning too early put extra stress on his bullpen. Intentionally loading the bases and putting in Matt Foster in a tough position that backfired. However this loss cannot be pinned solely on him.
Nine White Sox pitchers walked combined for a total of nine walks. When you give a team nine free bases in a playoff game it is a recipe for disaster. Rick Renteria cannot control his pitchers’ command.
The offense did not help the cause and stranded 12 runners. It is not Rick Renteria fault Jose Abreu hit into a costly double play in the eighth inning. It is not Renteria’s fault that Eloy Jimenez left a hole in the middle of the lineup and the game because of an injury.
He needed Crochet to record multiple outs and he left with an injury. Once again not Renteria’s fault. Renteria needed his bullpen to step up and some of his most reliable relievers let him down. He needed timely hitting and his MVP first baseman let him down.
After the game some of his players came to their manager’s defense. “I think he is the right guy” said Tim Anderson, who pulled more than his weight in the series, becoming the first player in baseball history to start his playoff career with nine hits in his first three games.
James McCann also offered his support saying “One thing that I respect a lot about Ricky is how he pushes to get the most out of each individual player”
In Renteria’s first season with a competitive major league roster at his disposal, he took them to the playoffs. While he has made his share of boneheaded decisions, his players like playing for him and with some off season improvements he is capable of getting the team over the top.
