By Stephen Nover
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash is one of the brightest and most innovative managers in baseball. Cash came up with openers where a relief pitcher starts a game and then is quickly replaced usually after one inning.
Now Cash may start a new trend by having two pitchers in the game at the same time. He did this against the Red Sox on Wednesday. The move paid off in a 3-2 Rays win.
What happened was Cash brought in lefty Adam Kolarek to face Sam Travis in the eighth inning. Kolarek got Travis out on a pop fly. Then Cash brought in righthander Chaz Roe, but didn’t pull Kolarek. Instead Cash moved Kolarek to first base pulling out first baseman Ji-Man Choi. Roe retired Mookie Betts on a fly ball. Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe went in to play first.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora protested the game due to the placement of subs into the Rays lineup. So there definitely was confusion. Some things may need to get ironed out.
But the concept is strong. I can see two pitchers in a game at the same time becoming a standard ploy instead of just a rare thing. Cash figured out that the advantage of an additional pitcher outweighs any type of short-term offensive advantage and fielding disadvantage.
The Yankees could do this with lefty Aroldis Chapman and righty setup man Adam Ottavino. The Cardinals could do this with Andrew Miller and Carlos Martinez. These are just a couple of examples.
(Stephen Nover is one of the most respected handicappers in North America. If you are interested in Stephen’s sports service please email him at scriber26@gmail.com, or message him via Twitter.)
