Wednesday was a dreary night at the plate for the Washington Nationals, who had just two hits against a strong Tampa Bay Rays pitching staff. A crafty game plan by Rays’ manager Kevin Cash only made the performance more intriguing.
Matt Andriese was expected to be Wednesday’s starter for Tampa Bay. Yet, Cash had a strategy in mind and gave the start to Steve Geltz. Wednesday was Geltz’s second start of his major league career, having thrown 25-plus innings for the Rays bullpen this season. What did Cash have in mind?
“We’re going to get the most out of Geltz,” Cash said before the game. “We value the opportunity to use that pinch-hitter spot if it’s a chance for us to put up some runs on the board early.”
It’s rare to see a manager think of the pinch-hitting spot that early in the game. Motives for Geltz’s start remain debatable, and Nationals manager Matt Williams said Cash’s strategy did not impact his team’s approach.
“We’ve got as much video as we could possibly want,” Williams said. “We’ve got scouting reports and information, just like everybody else has. It’s about getting a good pitch and doing something with it.”
A 27-minute rain delay occurred during the middle of the eighth inning, which was also a factor taken into play by Cash before the first pitch was thrown.
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“It just works out today that we are factoring in some weather,” Cash said. “We definitely don’t want to burn Andriese, who can give us some length, and then be delayed because of the weather.”
Andriese followed up Geltz with four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and recording two strikeouts. Andriese’s outing was made easier by Geltz, as he entered the third inning to face the bottom of Washington’s order. One might consider this another subliminal strategy for Cash, as if Andriese is starting Wednesday’s game against the bottom of the order.
Instead of facing Yunel Escobar, Anthony Rendon, and Bryce Harper to start the game, Andriese faced Jose Lobaton, Michael A. Taylor, and Jordan Zimmerman in the third inning. Although Andriese ended up seeing the top of the order as many times as the bottom, he was limited to just one at-bat against Clint Robinson, Danny Espinosa, and Ian Desmond.
This strategy would make sense. Robinson isn’t Washington’s every day No. 4 hitter. Normally, it’s Ryan Zimmerman or Harper. Espinosa was coming off a five-hit game, and Desmond has made himself known as a powerful bat, regardless of his 2015 statistics.
Reasons aside, it was a unique tactic by the Rays. It’s as if Joe Maddon never left.
• Andrew Walsh can be reached at awalsh@washingtontimes.com.
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