The 2026 World Series matchup is set in stone, with the Brewers set to take on the Rays in this year’s Fall Classic. Neither Pat Murphy nor Kevin Cash has yet to make a mistake big enough to put their respective teams out of the postseason bracket.
The other 10 managers who participated in this postseason, however, will likely be kept up at night by some decision that went wrong. We’re going to review some of the most costly decisions made by managers throughout the playoffs, detailing the most consequential managerial gaffe from each of the eliminated sides.
Red Sox: Chad Tracy’s reluctance to stick with his starters
The Red Sox were humbled in the wild-card series against the Yankees, getting outscored 18–2 across two games. Boston’s starters in those two games, Sonny Gray and Payton Tolle, surrendered a grand total of three earned runs, but both were removed from their starts relatively early as Tracy elected to pass the baton onto the bullpen. It didn’t work out for the Red Sox’ skipper.
In Game 1, Tolle was removed just 4 2/3 innings into his playoff debut after surrendering just one run. The score at the time was 1–0, but things quickly got worse thereafter. Immediately after Tolle’s exit, Erik Miller entered the game and surrendered a solo shot to Ben Rice. Then, the flood gates opened. The Yankees poured in seven runs from the bottom of the seventh onward, and Boston ended up depleting its bullpen by using five relievers to get through the game.
One would think Tracy might lean on his starter more after that, but he deployed the same tactics in Game 2. Sonny Gray was removed after 4 2/3 innings, having surrendered just two runs. Boston sent Garrett Crochet out to the mound in a 2–1 game, despite Crochet having been sidelined since April. He was rocked by New York’s lineup, getting tagged for four runs without recording an out as part of a six-run inning for the Yankees. The game quickly got out of hand, and the Red Sox lost 9–2. After the game, Gray was openly critical of Tracy’s decision to remove him after just 70 pitches, and he likely wasn’t alone in that sentiment.
Dodgers: Dave Roberts not turning to his bullpen earlier in NLDS Game 3
Blake Snell took the ball in Game 3 and, apart from a leadoff home run to Jackson Chourio, pitched an excellent first six innings of the game. It’s important to note that Snell missed most of the season due to injuries. He made nine starts in the regular season and never pitched more than six innings in any of those contests. Snell was pitching well, there’s no denying, but not having a reliever getting loose in the bullpen at the start of the seventh inning was a curious decision from Roberts. The lefthander walked the leadoff batter, which should’ve been an indicator that he was nearing the end of the line. Roberts kept him in the game, after which Snell had to battle through an 11-pitch at-bat against Jake Bauers, which ended in a go-ahead two-run homer.
It was clear after that at-bat that Snell had run out of gas. His breaking pitches were losing their bite, and he looked exhausted. But because Roberts hadn’t gotten the bullpen going, Snell was tasked with staying in to face Garrett Mitchell. A lefty-on-lefty matchup favors Snell, but he no longer had his best stuff, and he surrendered a solo shot to Mitchell to make it a 4–2 game. He was relieved after the back-to-back home runs, but the damage had been done and the Dodgers weren’t able to mount a comeback.
In addition to his management of the bullpen, Roberts had also already sold out to try to win the game in the previous inning of that same game. After Abner Uribe walked back-to-back batters in the bottom of the sixth, Roberts opted to take out center fielder Andy Pages and replace him with Max Muncy. Muncy struck out, bringing Shohei Ohtani to the plate, who drew a walk. Will Smith then hit a two-run double to give the Dodgers a 2–1 lead.
With runners in scoring position and Uribe’s night clearly approaching its end, Roberts prematurely sent Josue De Paula to pinch hit for Miguel Rojas. Milwaukee countered by turning to a lefty in DL Hall, which prompted Roberts to sit De Paula back down, and send Kiké Hernández up to the plate. De Paula’s night was over before it began, and the Dodgers were left with just one bench player for the remainder of the game––backup catcher Hunter Feduccia. Hernández struck out, as did the next batter, Tommy Edman, and the inning ended. Los Angeles didn’t score another run for the remainder of the game and ultimately lost, 6–2.
Phillies: Don Mattingly asking too much of Jhoan Duran
During the wild-card series, Don Mattingly tasked Phillies closer Jhoan Duran with doing something he’d done just one time during the regular season; pitching multiple innings in relief with the game on the line. This was more of a gamble than a truly poor decision from Mattingly, as Philadelphia had an unreliable bullpen throughout the season and he likely didn’t feel too comfortable with another pitcher on the mound. Regardless, that gamble backfired.
Duran entered the game in the seventh inning with the Phillies leading 3–2. He got through the seventh inning unscathed before returning to the mound for the bottom of the eighth. After getting two quick outs, Duran surrendered an infield single to Michael Harris II before hitting Ozzie Albies with a pitch. With two runners on, Duran let up a three-run home run to Austin Riley, which gave Atlanta a late 5–3 lead that held up. Duran threw 27 pitches in Game 1, tied for his second-highest pitch count in a game this year, and it certainly seemed as if he ran out of gas toward the end of his outing.
Yankees: Aaron Boone’s lineup decision for ALDS Game 3
Ben Rice was the only reliable source of offense for the Yankees during the postseason, and in the ALDS in particular. With the season on the line, Aaron Boone decided to play matchups and insert Trent Grisham into the leadoff spot, where Rice had hit throughout the postseason. Grisham had done little to warrant a move up the lineup, but the reasoning from Boone was clear; Grisham had hit well against Rays Game 3 starter Nick Martinez in his career (4-for-6 with three doubles), though the sample size was extremely small.
That decision came back to haunt New York, as with the game on the line, the lineup turned over to the leadoff hitter, which was Grisham instead of Rice, and he came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning with a runner on base in a one-run game. The veteran outfielder put forth a rather uncompetitive at-bat, striking out on four pitches against Bryan Baker to end the game and the Yankees’ season. Grisham, who ended the postseason with a paltry .321 OPS, was the only player in the lineup to bat five times in Game 3, and he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. Had Boone not overtinkered with the lineup, that would’ve been Rice at the plate with a man on second base and a chance to keep the series alive.
Padres: Craig Stammen trying to get a six-out save from Mason Miller
The NLDS showdown between the Padres and Brewers provided some highly entertaining games. Luck was not on San Diego’s side, as they suffered some heartbreaking losses en route to elimination. In Game 2, Craig Stammen tasked Mason Miller with logging a six-out save, a decision that didn’t work out for the Padres.
Miller quickly worked through the eighth inning, but the wheels came off in the ninth. He issued back-to-back walks to Christian Yelich and Sal Frelick, raising his pitch count in the process. Then, after recording the second out, he walked a third batter in Gary Sanchez, which loaded the bases for Jackson Chourio. Clearly struggling with command, Stammen opted against bringing in a fresher arm, leaving Miller out to throw a season-high 40 pitches. The end result? Miller surrendered a walk-off two-run single to Chourio, putting the Padres down 2–0 in the series in the process.
Miller hadn’t thrown more than 34 pitches this season. He’d only thrown 30 or more pitches four times, and had just two outings in which he went two innings. In the biggest spot of the season, Stammen wanted his superstar closer out on the mound, but he failed to deviate from that plan when things got rocky.
Braves: Walt Weiss using Chris Sale in Game 3 of wild-card series
The Braves had to shut the door on the Phillies in the wild-card series before turning their attention to the Dodgers in the NLDS, which prompted manager Walt Weiss to bring Chris Sale out of the bullpen in the series finale to get the final four outs of the Game 3 win. While he did that job successfully, Atlanta had a comfortable four-run lead in that closeout game, and the team could likely have trusted its bullpen to get the job done, while saving Sale for a Game 2 start on four days’ rest in the NLDS.
Instead, Weiss preserved Sale for Game 3, indicating he wanted his ace at 100% strength rather than on diminished rest. Keep in mind, Sale only pitched every six games during the regular season, as opposed to five, as the Braves tried to keep him well rested. That lax pitching schedule should’ve enabled the 37-year-old to be ready to go on shorter rest during the postseason, having thrown fewer innings throughout the campaign, but Weiss was committed to his approach of having Sale go in Game 3. Had he thrown earlier in the series, it’s possible he would’ve been available for a second start in the NLDS if the Braves pulled off another win. Instead, he pitched just once against the Dodgers and surrendered three earned runs across five innings while being credited with the loss.
Astros; Joe Espada using rookie AJ Blubaugh to open the Astros’ bullpen game
Because the Astros failed to clinch a playoff berth until the final game of the regular season, they couldn’t use one of their more experienced starters to kick off the wild-card series against the White Sox. Instead, Houston went with a bullpen game, with rookie AJ Blubaugh (3.66 ERA in 96 IP) serving as the opener. It was Blubaugh’s postsesaon debut, and he was put into a crucial spot out of the gate.
With more experienced arms available in Houston’s bullpen, it was a bit perplexing to see Espada hand Blubaugh the start rather than bring him in during the early innings as a follower. The rookie struggled to find the strike zone against Chicago, walking three batters in the opening inning. He only surrendered one run, but it was a shaky start to the game for the Astros, and the White Sox never conceded the early lead they jumped out to. Walks had been an issue for Blubaugh during the regular season, having surrendered 42 free passes across 96 innings on the mound, and they were once again a problem for the 25-year-old in his brief appearance in the wild-card series.
Cubs: Craig Counsell pitching Shota Imanaga in the regular season finale, making him unavailable for the wild-card series
Starting pitching has been the Cubs’ biggest thorn this season, and it was again an issue in the wild-card series against the Padres. Rather than preserve Shota Imanaga, Chicago’s most consistent starter, for the postseason, Craig Counsell opted to use him as an opener in the regular-season finale against the Red Sox because the Cubs were trying to lock down the National League’s No. 5 seed with the Phillies still within striking distance to steal the second wild-card spot. Imanaga threw just 12 pitches against Boston, but that decision made him unavailable for the first two games of the wild-card series. Was that short outing for the team’s best healthy starter worth losing him for the postseason?
Instead of Imanaga toeing the rubber in Game 1, it was Matthew Boyd who took the mound, and he had a rough go against a red-hot Padres lineup. San Diego hit three home runs off Boyd, who lasted just four innings. Imanaga is a home run-prone pitcher in his own right, but he was the team’s most reliable starter throughout the year, and pitched well in his lone start against the Padres during the regular season. He didn’t get the ball at all during the two-game series, with Boyd and Kevin Gausman both getting knocked around as the Cubs were quickly bounced from the postseason, getting outscored 12–1.
White Sox: Will Venable overusing Grant Taylor
All things considered, Venable did quite an admirable job with the White Sox. The main choice he could be criticized for in the American League division series was his reliance upon Grant Taylor, who was tasked with a gargantuan workload for a reliever.
Taylor was excellent in the wild-card series against the Astros, and he threw four innings in relief during the series-opening win against the Guardians. For reference, Taylor is comfortable going multiple innings out of the bullpen, but the 24-year-old hadn’t pitched more than 2 2/3 innings in a game this year and had already blown past his career high for innings on the season. He handled the additional workload expertly, shutting the door on Cleveland while throwing 42 pitches and racking up six strikeouts. The righthander pitched again in Game 2 on a day of rest, going 1 1/3 innings while only needing seven pitches to do so.
Taylor didn’t pitch in Game 3, but was called upon again in Game 4 and either the workload had caught up to him or the Guardians had seen him too many times by that point. Taylor failed to retire any of the six hitters he faced and surrendered four runs and Chicago’s lead as the Guardians broke the game open with a six-run sixth inning. In the defense of Venable, there were very few relief pitchers he could trust in a high-leverage situation. But Taylor’s collapse was the moment the series shifted.
Guardians: Stephen Vogt’s bullpen management and overuse of high-leverage relievers while trailing
The Guardians largely relied on their bullpen during the American League championship series with AL strikeout king Gavin Williams limited to one appearance in the six-game series. That hamstrung manager Stephen Vogt quite a bit as the series went on, but how he rolled out his relievers left something to be desired as the Guardians lost the final three games of the ALCS.
Closer Cade Smith was used in some questionable spots, foremost when the Guardians were trailing by two runs late in Game 5 and Smith was tasked with throwing 22 pitches across 1 1/3 innings. His velocity was down during that outing, a sign that he was feeling the fatigue from being utilized so frequently. That foreshadowed what happened in Game 6, as Smith was brought in to face the heart of Tampa Bay’s order in the seventh inning and allowed a two-run homer to Junior Caminero, which ended up serving as the game-winning runs for the Rays.
Vogt’s usage of Smith wasn’t the only head-scratching decision he made throughout the series. In the final three games of the series, which were played on consecutive nights, the Guardians used 11 different pitchers for 21 different appearances. Twelve of the appearances resulted in runs being charged to the pitcher, with every guy except for lefty Erik Sabrowski getting tagged at least once.
In Game 4, with the game knotted up at 1–1, Vogt opted against using some of his high-leverage arms or letting bulk reliever Foster Griffin pitch a bit deeper into the game after he followed opener Shaun Armstrong. Instead, Vogt decided to bring in Daniel Espino, Tim Herrin, Slade Cecconi and Matt Festa, in that order. All four of them surrendered at least one run, and the Guardians couldn’t claw back into the game, ultimately losing, 7–3.
Then, in Game 6, the first two pitchers used were Armstrong and Herrin, who were the only two guys who had pitched both of the previous two nights. Both were charged with an earned run to put the Guardians behind early in the game that would ultimately end their season.
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