Why Gabe Kapler was right to pull Kevin Gausman—but perhaps wrong to use Tyler Rogers - a podcast by Locked on Podcast Network, Ben Kaspick

On today's Locked On Giants podcast, host Ben Kaspick discusses the San Francisco Giants' weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, in which the Giants lose two out of three. There was more controversy surrounding manager Gabe Kapler, as he made a couple of decisions regarding his starting pitchers that were heavily criticized in the media. On Sunday, Kapler elected to remove starting pitcher Kevin Gausman from the game in the 7th inning after he allowed a one-out single to Cody Bellinger. Up to that point, Gausman had shut down the Dodgers with a lethal combination of a high-90s fastball and a devastating splitter. Gausman had only thrown 80 pitches, and said after the game that he had "more in the tank." However, it's easy to justify Kapler's decision. Gausman had allowed consecutive line drives to Mookie Betts (who lined out) and Bellinger (who singled). Also, the numbers could not be clearer that outcomes for pitchers get worse the deeper they pitch in games. In Gausman's career, his numbers get sharply worse each time through the batting order. Last season, starting pitchers got sharply worse against the Dodgers each time through the batting order.
However, Kapler's decision to use Tyler Rogers for the second straight game, after he had thrown two innings the previous night, was questionable. It makes more sense in the context that the Giants do not have a lot of right-handed relievers they can trust right now. Rogers surrendered a single and a three-run home run that gave the Dodgers a lead they would not relinquish.
The previous night, Johnny Cueto carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Hunter Pence lost a ball in the twilight that went down as a triple. Cueto later issued a couple of walks in the inning, but also got two weakly hit outs. He was visited by trainers because he was hobbling a bit when going a after a popup. He clearly indicated to the trainers that he was fine to pitch, and he was allowed to face an additional hitter. Justin Turner hit a three-run home run that made the score 5-4 Giants. Kapler was heavily criticized for leaving Cueto in the game. This decision, and the one to pull Gausman, were pretty much opposite calls, and both were perfectly defensible, especially given that the score was close in the Gausman scenario and not close in the Cueto scenario. At the end of the day, the players play the game and not everything should be blamed on the manager.
Also in Saturday's game the Giants hit three home runs against Clayton Kershaw, including two by Austin Slater and one by Mike Yastrzemski—another one against a left-handed pitcher.
The Giants now head to Houston to play the Astros, who have surprisingly struggled so far this year. They're just 6-9 on the young season and have lost five in a row. They were involved in a benches-clearing incident yesterday with the Oakland A's, and suspensions could be handed down to their players in this series as close contact is strictly prohibited this season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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