It was a home run followed by a walk, though. And no room to play with. And Greinke had not been pitching that well this postseason, so I can see why Hinch would be concerned the wheels were about to come off.
Cole gave up 5 runs in Game 1 of the Series to these same Nats, including 2 dingers. Like every pitcher, he doesn't always have it.
And how would he do 2 days after throwing 110 pitches? I don't think anyone knows.
Hinch's reasoning for his moves seems pretty sound to me. Sometimes you do things right and the player doesn't do the job.
Dave Roberts brought in his Hall of Fame ace in Game 5 against the Nats and look where it got him.
I don't know, it seems like he was trying to make a joke with the comment about not being employed by the team any more. He went on to say some nice things about the team.
But it does seem a foregone conclusion he'll be playing elsewhere next year.
I think there's a chance JD opts out because of all the noise happening with the Sox these days, and all the rumors that he'll be traded if he doesn't opt out. He might prefer to control his own destiny even if it costs him a few mill.