Did Jim Leyland Err In Using Daniel Schlereth?

No, you wouldn’t necessarily expect to see Daniel Schlereth in what seemed like perhaps the key moment of the Detroit Tigers’ season.

But what else was Jim Leyland supposed to do?

He could have left Max Scherzer in the game, but managers are impatient in October and it’s hard to really blame them.

The bases were loaded in the third inning, and David Murphy was coming up next. Murphy bats left-handed. Schlereth throws left-handed. In his career, Schlereth has held lefty hitters to a .211/.327/.345 line. Murphy’s essentially never been a full-time player because he’s never done much against lefty pitchers, including a .298 lifetime on-base percentage against lefties.

Leyland made the right move. It just didn’t work out, as Murphy hit a two-run single and things just snowballed from there.

It happens. Managers can do only so much, you know?

Meanwhile, we’re entering the fifth inning and it’s still Rangers 9, Tigers 2.