I never liked the intentional walk. I’ve always believed that the intentional walk messes up the pitcher’s rhythm. He’s trained and trained to throw pitches, and you’re asking him to interrupt that to play catch for four tosses. You’re also facing the next batter’s on-base percentage, as opposed to the first batter’s batting average.
But I especially don’t like the intentional walk when your pitcher nearly sends the first pitchout over the catcher’s head. If they guy’s that tired, and just hanging on, why on earth do you want him facing a power hitter – even a journeyman power hitter – with the bases loaded? Pretty much everything Jim Tracey has tries this season has worked, but he left Rincon in for exactly one pitch too long, and even I saw it coming.
CORRECTION: Franklin Morales came in to pitch, forcing the Mets to pinch-hit Tatis. So Tracey didn’t leave Rincon in one pitch too long at all. The hazards of multi-tasking. That said, you’re still almost always making the odds against you worse by putting more men on base with the same number of outs.
