St. Louis Cardinals not to use Jaime Garcia as relief pitcher in Game 6 of NLCS – MLB Playoffs
The St. Louis Cardinals’ team manager Tony La Russa on Sunday, October 16 ruled out the possibility of playing the starter Jaime Garcia as relief pitcher in Game 6.
Cardinals currently have a 3-2 lead in the National League Championship Series. The decision not to use Garcia for relief pitcher comes at a time when the Cardinals are having eight relief pitchers ready to throw any time.
With the equally strong list of starters dotting the St. Louis Cardinals roster, it therefore becomes understandable to know why Garcia is not being used as relief pitcher.
For Game 6, Tony La Russa thinks, the team is good enough. "We didn't even list him [as an available reliever]," La Russa said. "I think we're good for today."
Jamie Garcia has thrown a total of 15.2 innings in October, involving games in the National League Division Series and the National League Championship Series with an ERA of 5.74. He has been a bit expensive with having given up 19 hits, allowing no less
than 10 runs.
Although his ERA in the regular season stood at 3.56 whereby he won 13 games in the 32 starts with 156 strike-outs, Garcia put all his efforts to maintain the performance he was expected to put on display in the playoffs.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals have got a strong roster. Availability of strong and effective pitchers renders it easy to use the best pitcher available on the given day. Although relievers are not throwing much, Rzepczynski believes the team manager is using
the players the way they should be used.
"I think we're not throwing too much in between [games]," lefty specialist Marc Rzepczynski said. "Tony [La Russa] is doing a great job limiting our innings. We're staying balanced like that, and Tony is using us when he needs to."
With Game 6 providing an opportunity to the Cardinals to win the Series, the Brewers also have the chance to level it. It will all depend on how both teams play their Sunday game with the fans placing their bets on the Cardinals to take it.
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