World Series managers know how little separates a championship celebration from a ball skipping past the catcher with the tying run charging home. Alex Gordon stood at third base in the ninth inning of Game 7 in 2014. In that moment, San Francisco’s lead had shrunk to the distance between Madison Bumgarner’s next pitch and Salvador Perez’s bat.
Bumgarner escaped with a popup, completing five scoreless relief innings in the Giants’ 3–2 victory. The image endures: Perez looking skyward, Pablo Sandoval settling beneath the ball, a season ending inside his glove.
However, Bruce Bochy had made the important decision four innings earlier. His ace had thrown 117 pitches in Game 5. Now Bochy needed more outs on two days’ rest.
Could Bumgarner command his pitches immediately? How long could he hold that command, and who would take over if he could not? Those questions explain the gamble better than the celebration does. A manager must answer them before anyone knows how the night ends.
The name on the jersey cannot make the decision
The choice starts with what remains in the bullpen and what remains in the starter’s arm. World Series managers must compare the pitchers available that night against the hitters approaching the plate.
Consider a hypothetical seventh inning with two runners aboard and a left-handed power hitter waiting. The starter owns the better season. However, the rested reliever can bury his slider beneath that hitter’s swing, while the starter keeps leaving his breaking ball above the target.
In that moment, the less celebrated pitcher may offer the better answer. A rotation spot confers no advantage on the next pitch. The manager needs a reason to trust its location.
Availability changes the calculation, too. Protecting an ace’s next start makes more sense while trusted relievers remain ready. Once those options disappear, the starter can become the best remaining choice without feeling any stronger himself.
Readiness takes more than a radar reading
The first questions belong to the pitching coach and training staff. How did the starter recover from his previous outing? Did his usual throwing feel normal, and has anything changed since the team discussed making him available?
Despite the pressure, “I want the ball” cannot settle that conversation. A pitcher can desperately want to help while struggling to repeat his delivery. World Series managers need his account alongside the staff’s observations and throwing records.
MLB’s December 2024 Report on Pitcher Injuries drew on interviews with more than 200 experts. Contributors identified increased velocity, pursuit of better pitch movement and maximum-effort throwing as likely major contributors to rising injuries. Their concern included work outside games.
However, the report established no reliable conversion between bullpen throws and game pitches. It called for better non-game workload data and acknowledged disagreement about measuring fatigue. A proposed 15-pitch appearance therefore deserves scrutiny if the pitcher has already warmed repeatedly.
The warmup itself supplies another piece of evidence. Imagine a fastball reaching its usual speed but repeatedly missing arm-side, followed by a slider that stays above the target. From the stands, the pitcher looks powerful; behind the plate, his catcher keeps reaching.
One bad throw proves little. Coaches must compare the sequence with the pitcher’s normal command and delivery. For World Series managers, the practical question becomes which pitches he can trust against the next three hitters.
The perfect entrance may never arrive
Starting an inning with nobody aboard gives a pitcher room to establish himself. Inheriting a runner on third can make his first miss decisive. Suddenly, the catcher’s ability to block a breaking ball belongs in the calculation alongside the pitcher’s confidence in throwing it.
World Series managers also must weigh runner control and comfort pitching from the stretch. A starter who normally settles into games may need his best location immediately. There may be no harmless miss.
AJ Hinch’s plan for Gerrit Cole in the 2019 finale illustrates the difficulty. As he later explained to MLB, Cole’s assignment required a clean inning with Houston ahead. Cole never entered.
Restricting the entrance can protect a pitcher from an unsuitable assignment. However, it can also leave the manager waiting for an opening the game never supplies. The staff should decide beforehand whether a tie or inherited runners would change the plan.
Eovaldi shows how tonight can swallow tomorrow
Nathan Eovaldi’s 2018 World Series assignment grew far beyond a short appearance. Boston’s official media guide records his entrance in the 12th inning of Game 3 and 97 pitches before his night ended. Max Muncy’s homer decided the game in the 18th.
Each scoreless stretch gave Boston another chance to win. Every return to the mound also spent more of Eovaldi on that chance.
World Series managers face a brutal choice in extra innings. Remove the effective pitcher and the next arm might lose immediately. Leave him in and tomorrow’s pitching plan may require rebuilding.
Boston started Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 4, with Eovaldi unavailable after his marathon outing. Keeping one game alive had consumed a potential starter’s workload. Game 7 removes the next rotation turn from that calculation, although concern for the pitcher’s arm remains.
The hardest move may come after the rescue
An ace escapes the inning. The dugout exhales, the crowd rises and the manager faces a more tempting decision: send him back out.
Patrick Corbin gave Washington three scoreless innings in the 2019 finale. He also brought relevant preparation: MLB’s postseason accounting records five relief appearances alongside three starts that October. His staff had evidence of how he handled changing roles.
However, previous success cannot promise another clean frame. Bumgarner credited quick outs with helping him continue in 2014. An inning full of foul balls, walks and stressful misses demands a different conversation.
World Series managers need another arm preparing before the starter’s command disappears. Otherwise, the replacement may have to rush through the very entrance the original plan sought to avoid.
The next decision should account for the inning’s length, contact quality and hitters coming up. Three routine outs earn another look at the assignment. They cannot guarantee that the slider will keep finishing beneath the barrel.
Despite the pressure, pulling an ace can require more conviction than calling for him. The crowd sees the outs he has already collected. Beyond the dugout rail, the next hitter adjusts his batting gloves, waiting to discover what the pitcher has left.
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FAQs
Q1. Why do World Series managers use starting pitchers in relief?
A. A starter may give the team its best chance against the next hitters, especially when trusted relievers are unavailable.
Q2. What do managers check before bringing in a starter on short rest?
A. They check how he recovered, how much he has thrown since his start and whether he can locate his pitches in the bullpen.
Q3. How many innings did Madison Bumgarner pitch in relief in Game 7?
A. Bumgarner threw five scoreless innings on two days’ rest to finish San Francisco’s 3–2 win in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.
Q4. Why didn’t Gerrit Cole pitch in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series?
A. AJ Hinch wanted Cole to start an inning with Houston ahead and nobody on base. That opening never came.
Q5. Why didn’t Nathan Eovaldi start Game 4 of the 2018 World Series?
A. Eovaldi threw 97 pitches in relief during the 18-inning Game 3. Boston started Eduardo Rodriguez in Game 4.
