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What were they thinking? The biggest managerial gaffes of the divisional round

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Every managerial move in Major League Baseball is under heavy scrutiny, especially with the advent of analytics. That's particularly true during the postseason when each decision and its outcome is magnified for better or worse.

Let's take a look at the biggest gaffes of the division series, in which the ends are supposed to justify the means.

Dodgers summon Kershaw from the bullpen

It's truly upsetting that this one needs to be brought up, but Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will continue to face some difficult questions after his perplexing bullpen management in the pivotal fifth game of the NLDS.

The most egregious move was the inexplicable decision to make Clayton Kershaw the first pitcher out of the bullpen following Walker Buehler's stupendous performance.

To be clear, this isn't revisionist history. Roberts had no excuse to bring Kershaw out of the 'pen. If Adam Eaton was the threat the Dodgers needed to neutralize, Los Angeles' bullpen featured multiple non-starting left-handers equipped for such a situation, such as Julio Urias and Adam Kolarek. Eaton wasn't really the problem, though. Allowing Kershaw to stay in the game to face Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto proved disastrous. Making one pitching change each for Eaton, Rendon, and Soto is understandably suboptimal, but these are the moments for which Kolarek is on the postseason roster.

All this isn't even mentioning the decision to give Joe Kelly a second inning with Kenley Jansen sitting idly in the bullpen. Rough one, Roberts.

Braves don't lean on Soroka

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The move that will undoubtedly haunt the Atlanta Braves long after the 2019 postseason is Brian Snitker's decision not to tab Mike Soroka as the Game 1 starter. That decision loomed large after Atlanta dropped Game 4 and even larger when the Cardinals absolutely shelled Mike Foltynewicz in the pivotal Game 5.

Why the Braves didn't go to Soroka until Game 3 will remain a mystery. It could have been that the 22-year-old just doesn't have a proven track record. But the league is getting younger, and the Dodgers didn't shy away from leaning heavily on Buehler. It could've also been due to his home/road splits for the season; Soroka's 4.14 ERA at home was far worse than his 1.55 ERA on the road. Those splits, however, are almost never indicative of future performance. That Soroka couldn't go twice in this series is unforgivable - and a huge reason Atlanta won't be moving on.

Astros tab Verlander on short rest

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In a must-win game for the Tampa Bay Rays, it was the Houston Astros who bizarrely tabbed their Game 1 starter on short rest. While Tyler Glasnow sat in the dugout patiently awaiting a potential Game 5, Justin Verlander labored through 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits - including a pair of homers - and three walks.

What's the point of carrying Wade Miley on your roster if you don't trust him to give your team a winning chance up 2-1 in the series? AJ Hinch's decision to use Verlander on short rest - for the first time in his career, no less - may have jeopardized the ace for the ALCS. It also forced Gerrit Cole to pitch Game 5, leaving him unavailable until Game 3 against New York.

Cardinals let Flaherty throw 100-plus pitches in Game 5

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It's natural to go for the jugular in a winner-take-all game. But when your offense explodes for 10 runs in the top of the first and victory in Game 5 is all but assured, maybe you should start managing with the NLCS in mind just a little bit.

Not in Mike Shildt's world. Instead of giving starter Jack Flaherty three to five innings of work before turning it over to the bullpen, the St. Louis Cardinals let their ace throw 104 pitches in a blowout. As a result, they won't be able to tab Flaherty against the Nationals in the next round until Game 3. Perhaps the decision winds up being irrelevant, but the Cardinals' other starting options aren't particularly tantalizing. Consider Flaherty's regular-season ERA compared to that of every other Cardinals starter combined:

Starter ERA
Flaherty 2.75
Everyone else 4.08

Yankees misuse Ottavino

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It seems Aaron Boone has taken this aggressive bullpen strategy too far.

After not being aggressive enough last year, the New York Yankees manager has already opted to use Adam Ottavino for a single batter twice. The decision proved successful on neither occasion. Having a reliever face one batter isn't a terrible strategy, but it is when you're burning arguably the best reliever in your 'pen. Ottavino's 1.90 ERA in the regular season was the best of the Yankees' incredibly elite relief corps; Ottavino should be the guy opponents fear facing during their highest-leverage moments. By revealing that Ottavino and his deadly slider won't be coming into the game later, Boone is showing his opponent too much. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees deploy the right-hander moving forward.

Nats continue to bat Eaton 2nd

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Eaton isn't a bad player by any means. In fact, he's above average. But giving the outfielder a guaranteed first-inning at-bat while not affording that same opportunity to Soto - arguably the Washington Nationals' best hitter - is foolish. Eaton's unsuccessfully attempted to bunt on multiple occasions and has a .491 OPS through six playoff games this year.

Lineup optimization is crucial, and any manager should construct his card with the best hitters at the top. Instead, Dave Martinez is routinely giving Eaton more trips to the dish than both Rendon and Soto. A simple rule: Have your best on-base machine lead off, your best all-around hitter up second, your best slugger third, and the player known for either hitting a homer or striking out working cleanup duty. The Nationals don't really have a true cleanup hitter (besides maybe Matt Adams, who had too many outs this year), but a lineup like this would probably work best:

Spot Player
1 Trea Turner
2 Juan Soto
3 Anthony Rendon
4 Howie Kendrick

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