Snotbubbles
Registered User
- Oct 25, 2007
- 3,889
- 161
Can a real Phillies fan explain the strategy behind leaving Soto in to face the righty
The strategy is/was that Rosario, a lefty, was the most dangerous bat off the bench and was the last move Atlanta could make. If you go with a righty to start the inning they have to face 3 batters, so Topper was willing to take the mismatch of Soto v. Ozuna, so he could neutralize Rosario and still have Strahm (a lefty) as an insurance plan. Ozuna getting on and scoring was irrelevant to the Phillies. They weren't really concerned about the 6-9, it was Ozuna (who wasn't an important run) and Rosario. Topper forced the matchup there by going lefty-lefty out of the pen. It's actually brilliant when you think about it.