Yesterday, in the Dodgers’ 11–9 win over the White Sox, Chicago manager Tony La Russa made the puzzling decision to intentionally walk Trea Turner on a 1–2 count to face Max Muncy.
Many of you probably know what happened, but let’s briefly run through the situation just in case before we dig into the thinking behind La Russa’s call and explain why, regardless of the result, it was the wrong move to make.
LA was up 6–5 in the top of the sixth inning at Guaranteed Rate Field yesterday. The White Sox had just squandered a 4–0 lead in the previous inning, when starter Dylan Cease surrendered six unearned runs. (La Russa let Cease throw 45 pitches in the fifth before he went to the bullpen, but we won’t get into that questionable decision here.)
