Dave Stewart has been on baseball's biggest stage before. Under the brightest lights, the former A's ace brought his best stuff on the mound.
Over his 16-year career, Stewart won three World Series with three different teams -- Dodgers, A's, and Blue Jays -- and was twice named World Series MVP. What he saw from the A's pitching strategy in their AL Wild Card Game loss to the Yankees didn't exactly sit well with him.
"That's the problem when you do a bullpen day," Stewart, now an A's analyst on NBC Sports California, said Thursday on KNBR. "We'll never know if we started Edwin Jackson or [Mike] Fiers if we would have gotten four, five or maybe even six innings out of that guy, which makes it a lot easier on your bullpen to create outs and get outs."
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The A's started with "opener" Liam Hendriks who allowed two runs in one inning from a two-run blast by Aaron Judge. Oakland was quickly in a tough hole at Yankee Stadium and couldn't recover in a season-ending 7-2 defeat.
Was this a decision made by manager Bob Melvin, who could be in line for AL Manager of the Year and a contract extension, or did the front office call the shots?
"I think more than likely it was put together by Billy [Beane] and David Forst," Stewart said. "And ovviously you have to get your manager to buy in. We'll call it a group effort, but I think initially it started with the brian trust and then they brought it down.
"For me, I'm a traditionalist. I also have the greatest confidence in Bob Melvin. He's done a great job with this team. He's been able to mix and maneuver and make the right decisions with the pitching staff all season long."
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Melvin and the rest of the A's decision makers faced an uphill battle with their pitching staff after a plethora of injuries hit them throughout the season. The A's could have gone with veteran starters Jackson or Fiers, but both struggled down the final stretch of the season. Jackson had a 4.18 ERA in September, while Fiers was even worse with a 4.62 ERA.
There's no looking back now, but the A's have some big pitching decisions to make internally and will surely take a look at the open market.