AJ Hinch's Explanation for Not Using Gerrit Cole is Infuriating and Out of Character | ADAM BOMB

AJ Hinch is one of the great modern baseball thinkers, able to seamlessly blend analytics, gut reactions, and a seasoned demeanor to serve as a steadying presence...always. You can't individually name ingenious moves Hinch has made, but watching him manage a baseball game usually has the air of watching a plane land. Blessed with a roster of All-Stars, he calmly, coolly guides them to their ultimate destination.

Except in Game 7 of the World Series, when he pratfalled down Tal's Hill, then justified his late-game panic with logic straight out of 1955.

Hinch had two of the rarest things in sports at his disposal Wednesday night: a Game 7 World Series lead in the late innings, and the best pitcher in baseball sitting in the bullpen, willing and able to send the series into the history books.

Instead, Hinch hit three successive panic buttons in the seventh inning. He pulled Zack Greinke at 80 pitches after a solo home run and a walk to Juan Soto (aided by a poor Robinson Chirinos framing job, and likely an unintentional/intentional pitch-around). He brought in Will Harris, gassed in Game 6 (and solved by Washington's bats).

In need of further cleanup (Harris did not record an out), Hinch then went to the man who served as his closer all year long, and someone who I'm so f***ing glad they got, Roberto Osuna, in unfamiliar territory for 36 pitches. Why? Because he intended to only use Cole with the chance to lock down a win.

What happened to Hinch? This is such a strange departure from the norm that it reads as an excuse. Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding baseball, but the seventh inning, with a lead, represents that exact variety of chance.

All things considered, Osuna is the team's closer. He's perhaps even more suited to deliver the final three outs than Cole, and reserving Cole for the ninth inning only seems like a proudly emotional decision. You know, almost as if to say, "I brought this man here, he is my crown jewel, and now he will end it." Instead, Hinch sent the game clattering off the rails. Osuna escaped the seventh without further damage, but, clearly winded, allowed an insurance run in the eighth. Cole sat.

Joe Smith entered for the top of the ninth, loaded the bases on near-misses, and gave way to Jose Urquidy, who blew the doors off the game dramatically. Cole picked at splinters.

Minutes after the game, forever alienated by the franchise, Cole nearly refused to speak on their behalf, then donned a Scott Boras logo cap, choosing to represent his own agent instead in front of the cameras.

It's easy to let your mind run wild with conspiracy theories. Was Cole's arm barking to a greater extent than what we were fed? Did Boras, Cole, and Hinch all want him on the mound with a lead in the ninth for the symbolism? Is this Pete Carroll at the goal line all over again, being accused of handing glory to Russell Wilson's arm instead of Marshawn Lynch's legs?

After all the Brandon Taubman-led drama of the past week, did Houston simply have no interest in winning the World Series with Osuna firmly emblazoned as the final image of championship glory?

No one was talking, but Hinch's decision-making, once the initial error in judgment was made, showed a stunning lack of awareness, and represented the antithesis of the calm he's usually a party to. Nothing about Game 7 was an AJ Hinch game, and it's fair to question whether he let emotions leak too far into an emotionless position.