Tell me it ain't so

[Slacker Mills]

One of the primary duties of a manager is to decide who plays, where they play, and the battng order. We've seen Skip give a day off to a lefty bat vs a lefty pitcher, for example. Well, how about if you have a player with just two prior at bats off Met's starter Manaea - both resulting in home runs! That player is none other than Nick Fortes.

It would seem obvious that, for at least one day, a manager would maybe move Fortes to the clean up spot in order to take advantage of the situation. What does Skip do? He leaves Fortes out of the lineup completely!

Does anyone, anywhere, have an explanation for this?

[Ely Sussman]

22 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

One of the primary duties of a manager is to decide who plays, where they play, and the battng order. We've seen Skip give a day off to a lefty bat vs a lefty pitcher, for example. Well, how about if you have a player with just two prior at bats off Met's starter Manaea - both resulting in home runs! That player is none other than Nick Fortes.

It would seem obvious that, for at least one day, a manager would maybe move Fortes to the clean up spot in order to take advantage of the situation. What does Skip do? He leaves Fortes out of the lineup completely!

Does anyone, anywhere, have an explanation for this?

Yes: Fortes started each of the previous 4 games. The team prioritized his chemistry/game-calling history with Luzardo and Garrett (thus starting him with them Friday and Saturday) over having his bat available on Sunday.

[Slacker Mills]

5 hours ago, Ely Sussman said:

Yes: Fortes started each of the previous 4 games. The team prioritized his chemistry/game-calling history with Luzardo and Garrett (thus starting him with them Friday and Saturday) over having his bat available on Sunday.

None of that would have precluded inserting Fortes as the DH and benc;hing a non-hitter like Burger. A manager's job is to give his team the best chances of winning. Fortes success vs Manaea was extremely notable.

On that subject (of giving your team the best chance to win), how the heck do you lead off Chisholm vs a lefty?

[Ely Sussman]

2 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

None of that would have precluded inserting Fortes as the DH and benching a non-hitter like Burger. A manager's job is to give his team the best chances of winning. Fortes success vs Manaea was extremely notable.

On that subject (of giving your team the best chance to win), how the heck do you lead off Chisholm vs a lefty?

The other factor to consider is time elapsed. Fortes hit those homers in 2022 and has been a far inferior hitter since. I wouldn't blame Skip for completely ignoring that head-to-head history given the way things have changed in the interim.