St. Louis Cardinals’ Jake Westbrook to wait for easier games to pitch – MLB World Series
Jake Westbrook will have considered himself immensely lucky to have got his name in the roster for the World Series. However, much as it is a matter of pride to be part of team in one of the paramount events of the baseball, he will get less opportunity
to demonstrate his brilliance.
In the last two games of the World Series, where each team, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers have won a game apiece, Westbrook has not had the chance to pitch. This is due to the fact that the team manager does not want to try him in close games.
Part of his strategy? So long as the team is not winning or losing by a comparatively big margin, Westbrook be not given the ball to pitch. The hesitancy of Tony La Russa is not clearly known for now as to why he does not want to use Westbrook.
While Jason Motte got the ball in Game 2, only to give up two invaluable runs in the ninth inning that eventually translated into the team’s defeat, Westbrook has barely got a chance in this series to pitch against the Texas Rangers.
"I don't think that's a good situation for him," La Russa said of using Westbrook during the middle innings of a close game. "We've got a lot of depth in our relievers and we should handle it that way."
While the team manager considers Westbrook an important weapon that the St. Louis Cardinals possess, there is a bit of hesitancy to use him. "He's definitely a weapon that we think we have," La Russa said.
Part of the reason why Westbrook got the opportunity to be in the St. Louis Cardinals’ active roster for the World Series is his capacity to be a relief pitcher. Although he has mostly pitched as the starter in the regular season, whereby he won 12 games,
in the relief he has not been able to pitch so far.
It remains to be seen if Westbrook, considered to be a veteran of the Cardinals, finally gets this chance in Game 3 to pitch.
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