What Brewers manager Craig Counsell did to confuse everybody watching Game 5 of the NLCS
Nothing about the 2018 NLCS between the Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers has been normal. Game 5 of this series just took everybody to another level of weird.
Brewers “starter” and former Seattle Mariner Wade Miley faced just one Dodgers batter in the bottom of the first. After Miley walked Cody Bellinger, Brewers manager Craig Counsell went to the mound to take Miley out and bring Brandon Woodruff in.
Was Miley injured? Nope.
Did he do anything wrong? Nah.
Counsell decided to trick Dodgers manager Dave Roberts into producing a right-handed heavy batting order which would’ve given the Dodgers an advantage against the left-handed Miley. The switch to right-handed Woodruff then handed the advantage right back to Milwaukee. As the action was going down, the social media reaction was as hectic as you would expect it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wade Miley is done after just one batter. What the hell is going on?</p>— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) <a href="https://twitter.com/FabianArdaya/status/1052670570590916609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">wade miley <a href="https://t.co/ellXjan1NF">pic.twitter.com/ellXjan1NF</a></p>— joon (@joonlee) <a href="https://twitter.com/joonlee/status/1052674490939973632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Brewers took Wade Miley out already!? <a href="https://t.co/i0yfHXU73H">pic.twitter.com/i0yfHXU73H</a></p>— SB Nation (@SBNation) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/1052670874526998528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Does, uh, Wade Miley have diarrhea or something.</p>— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) <a href="https://twitter.com/molly_knight/status/1052670937110212608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wade Miley is the 2nd pitcher in postseason history to start a game and face only one batter. <br><br>The other was Johnny Cueto in Game 1 of the 2012 NLDS. <br><br>He struck out the only batter he faced, but then left the game with back spasms. <a href="https://t.co/yCQTA2M4DV">pic.twitter.com/yCQTA2M4DV</a></p>— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1052673275355119630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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But wait, what if I told you there was a plot twist…..
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Removing Miley was Brewers’ plan. He will start Game 6.</p>— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/1052671542331506688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2018</a></blockquote>
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If the Brewers go on to win the game and the series, its a genius move. If not, well then Counsell is going to have to explain himself. Get your popcorn ready.