This Decision May Have Cost The Guardians In ALDS Game 3

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt made a decision that may have contributed to their loss in ALDS Game 3

Sep 21, 2024; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) looks on during the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Postseason baseball is often a game of chess, but there are times where managers overthink the game. This might have been the case when Cleveland Guardians’ manager Stephen Vogt put in multiple pinch hitters within the first three innings of their 3-0 loss in Game 3 of their ALDS matchup with the Detroit Tigers.

Vogt put together a lineup that included left-handed batters Kyle Manzardo and Will Brennan, who were not included in the lineups to start Games 1 and 2.

The decision to include an extra pair of left-handed bats would make sense with a right-hander on the mound, if it wasn’t for the Tigers plans for traditional starter Keider Montero. The twenty-four-year-old only threw one inning before Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch turned to his bullpen.

"We meet constantly before and during games, constantly talking about when will we go, what's the situation if we're going to do it versus if we're going to hold," Vogt said postgame of his decision to use two pinch-hitters early in Wednesday's game. "We prepare very, very much for these situations. Nothing that happened today caught us off guard. We were prepared for all of it. We took our shots when we had the opportunity to put some runs up, placed some bets and then just didn't come through."

The Tigers seemed poised to rotate through their pitchers fairly quickly for the remainder of the game, but Vogt decided to replace both of his lefties by the second inning. He removed Brennan before he had an opportunity to step to the plate.

The decision put the Guardians in rare company, becoming just the third team to have multiple pinch-hit plate appearances before the third inning of a game. They join the 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers and 1920 Cleveland Indians.

Daniel Schneeman represented the lone left-handed bat on the Guardians’ bench alongside switch hitter Angel Martinez.

David Fry and Jhonkensy Noel entered the game for the two lefties, and the pair proceeded to go 0-for-7 with three strikeouts. That included four at-bats coming with runners in scoring position.

There was no surprise when Montero got pulled from the game after an inning. He was expected to have a short day on the hill. 

Not only did the initial lineup fail to pan out with Manzardo grounding out in the first inning, but the changes also left the Guardians without much of a chance to play matchups late in the game. 

There’s no telling what Manzardo and Brennan may have been able to do with the bat in their hands, but the true problem stemmed from a lack of depth on the bench. 

The early substitutions, combined with pinch-hitting for Bo Naylor in the 7th inning, forced Austin Hedges to stay in the game for the final at-bat of Game 3.

There’s no proof to say Vogt’s decisions early in the game are what cost the Guardians the game. But, the first-year skipper may have been over eager to make a change.