The “Manfred Man” Bestows a Loss On a Pitcher Who Just Did His Job
On Episode 2375 of the Effectively Wild podcast, co-host Ben Lindbergh — no fan of the “Manfred Man” (aka the “Ghost Runner,” which is a misnomer; aka the “Zombie Runner,” which is an insult to the guy actually standing on second base) — pointed out how the rule instituted in 2020 (during Covid) produced a great injustice about a week ago in a game between the Dodgers and the Giants.
Here is the scenario: With one out in the ninth inning of 1-1 tie, Blake Treinen came in from the bullpen to replace Jack Dreyer with the winning run on third. Manager Dave Roberts immediately ordered an intentional walk to Willy Adames (this begs the question as to why Roberts didn’t do that with Dreyer on the hill, as, alas he created the mess and should be charged with the walk). With the bases now loaded — but the only runner that mattered standing on third base — Treinen got Wilmer Flores to fly to short center field, where Andy Pages caught the ball and threw a strike to catcher Ben Rortvedt to complete the double play. That ended the threat, ended the inning, and ended regulation baseball.
Treinen came back out for the bottom of the tenth, which meant that Christian Koss (who pinch-ran for Flores) took his rightful place at second base to start the inning as the aforementioned “Manfred Man.” Treinen induced Matt Chapman to ground to second baseman Tommy Edman for the first out of the inning, while Koss moved to third. At this point, with left-handed hitting Jung Hoo Lee scheduled to bat, Roberts removed Treinen for lefty Tanner Scott. To summarize, Treinen had faced two batters (technically three, as the intentional walk to Adames counts as a batter faced), and recorded three outs (one via a double-play). Suffice it to say, he had done his job.
Scott took the mound and actually struck out Lee, but home plate umpire Bill Miller ruled that Rortvedt didn’t catch strike three, so he called it a foul ball. Lee walked on the next pitch. With runners on the corners, and again, the only runner that mattered standing on third base, Roberts order an intentional walk to Casey Schmitt. Two pitches later, catcher Patrick Bailey sent a 97 MPH fastball into the left field bleachers for a walk-off grand slam. For purposes of deciding who takes the loss, the only runner that matter was on third — Koss, the “Manfred Man” — who took his place while Treinen was on the hill. As such, Treinen took his fourth loss of the season.
Sure, pitcher wins are an antiquated stat in today’s sabermetrically inclined world. Sure, advanced stats will protect Treinen at contract time (although his actual stats may truly hurt him), and no one will be looking at this loss on this Friday night in September when he becomes a free agent at the end of next season. But, come on! It is right there is the box score in every paper in America, on every website that covers the sport. It just isn’t right. Lindbergh (and others) offered up that this should, if nothing else, be a “team loss,” and not dropped at the feet of the pitcher who literally did nothing wrong and everything right.
Per Lindbergh, who was relying the research of Michael Mountain, this exact situation has occurred ten other times between 2020 and 2024. This would be the 11th, and those eleven pitchers have a reason to gripe, even if they are just shouting into the wind where no one — not fans, agents, managers, or general managers — give one good darn about a pitcher’s win-loss record. But still!
PLAY BALL!!
