I mean they probably would have walked Vladdy to pitch to IKF, but absolutely no reason to send DS there with Vlad up next. Man, what a frustrating game.
Yeah I doubt they'll give Vlad anything to hit. Best case Vlad gets on first via walk and then IKF bunts him over, and then you pray Varsho/Kirk can get it done.
So Springer out of the game, Bo out of the game, and now they took Barger out for no reason.
This is either going to be a bad loss or JS about to Ned Yost his way to victory.
And now there's no Springer, and IKF is hitting behind Vlad.
Dave Roberts is prone to doing some JS level stuff, so maybe his relievers will still challenge Vlad with fastballs even with IKF behind him.
I hope the Jays don't regret pinch running for Bo here. They won't give Vlad anything to hit with IKF behind him, so the Jays have to hope they hold the lead here.
Not to mention it's replacing Springer, so DS wouldn't have even had to take the field. He's a better hitter than France. JS just doesn't like DS for whatever reason, probably contact rate.
That's risky with Ohtani and possibly Freeman coming up, but the Jays don't have many trustworthy options with Fisher struggling and Lauer not being used much. It's between Dominguez and Bassitt probably in terms of who to use from the non-Hoffman options.
What JS does in the next inning might decide the game. Pages and then the top of the order coming up. Hopefully the bats can score some here so it's less stressful for whoever comes in.