Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, preferred to have Max Scherzer fully rested to face the Atlanta Braves.
Roberts felt that an extra Sabbath will make Scherzer look better.
So the driver determined that it was Corey Knebel who would pitch in the first game of the National League Championship Series on Saturday, instead of Scherzer, who will now be in charge of the second game, scheduled for this Sunday.
Roberts said Saturday the decision was an easy one, after chatting with Scherzer after the team’s training session in Atlanta on Friday. The manager said he received information that the star’s right arm was tired after his relief work Thursday in Game 5 of the division series.
“Lately he was saying, ‘I can have the ball and work as hard as I can. I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, ‘”Roberts said of his conversation with Scherzer.
He added that the law believed that, with another day of rest, he would be ready “to give a full opening” this Sunday.
“So for us the decision was easy,” added the manager. “When you talk about a series of five games, you could have a different conversation, but when you talk about potentially having to play seven games to win four, it seems to me that we did the logical thing.” AP (HN)