OnlyBucs

It does get difficult to separate what are Hurdle decisions and what are team policy where Hurdle is just the messenger (and we know we're to be nice to messengers). Pulling a pitcher after so many innings/pitches is a team level (that is, NH's level) decision, not a managerial one. I recall a minor league manager getting suspended by the team for two weeks for leaving a pitcher in beyond his pitch count. It's pretty clear the Holmes event was done at team level - as Bobster pointed out, NH had to add him to the 40-man and call him up in order to have him available for Hurdle to slip into the lineup. I can't believe it was left at that point to Hurdle's discretion.

383A202630550 wrote: It does get difficult to separate what are Hurdle decisions and what are team policy where Hurdle is just the messenger (and we know we're to be nice to messengers). Pulling a pitcher after so many innings/pitches is a team level (that is, NH's level) decision, not a managerial one. I recall a minor league manager getting suspended by the team for two weeks for leaving a pitcher in beyond his pitch count. It's pretty clear the Holmes event was done at team level - as Bobster pointed out, NH had to add him to the 40-man and call him up in order to have him available for Hurdle to slip into the lineup. I can't believe it was left at that point to Hurdle's discretion. 
It does raise a lot of questions. Has Hurdle regressed from an average manager to a bad one because NH is now calling the shots? We know NH recalled Holmes to pitch and said it had been planned for a long time. We know NH is married to his sabermetric analytics which plays a significant part in decisions like shifting and scheduled off days. Maybe the office computer nerds tell NH what to do and he tells Hurdle. Maybe the reason both NH and CH received 4-year extensions together is because they operate as one.

082528393E2F38787B4A0 wrote: It does get difficult to separate what are Hurdle decisions and what are team policy where Hurdle is just the messenger (and we know we're to be nice to messengers). Pulling a pitcher after so many innings/pitches is a team level (that is, NH's level) decision, not a managerial one. I recall a minor league manager getting suspended by the team for two weeks for leaving a pitcher in beyond his pitch count. It's pretty clear the Holmes event was done at team level - as Bobster pointed out, NH had to add him to the 40-man and call him up in order to have him available for Hurdle to slip into the lineup. I can't believe it was left at that point to Hurdle's discretion. 
It does raise a lot of questions. Has Hurdle regressed from an average manager to a bad one because NH is now calling the shots? We know NH recalled Holmes to pitch and said it had been planned for a long time. We know NH is married to his sabermetric analytics which plays a significant part in decisions like shifting and scheduled off days. Maybe the office computer nerds tell NH what to do and he tells Hurdle. Maybe the reason both NH and CH received 4-year extensions together is because they operate as one.   


Makes sense.