After the New York Yankees lost Game 1 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Yankee legend and Fox analyst Derek Jeter questioned the decision-making of New York manager Aaron Boone.

Starting pitcher Gerrit Cole delivered a big game for the Yankees. Cole allowed just one run on four hits. Because Cole walked no one and struck out only four batters, his pitch count was a modest 88 after six innings. But with the Yankees leading 2-1, Boone went to his bullpen.

After the game, Jeter questioned the strategy.

“I know we talk about this all the time and I don’t want to be one of those guys who says, ‘Back in the day when we played,’” Jeter said. “But when we played the Mets in 2000, Al Leiter threw Game 6. He threw 140-something pitches – 140-something pitches. Gerrit Cole dominated this match. He dominated the game. And if you take him out after 88 pitches, for whatever reason, I don’t know, that’s a domino effect, not just on this game tonight, tomorrow’s game and the rest of this series. I just think that when you have someone who acts the way Gerrit Cole acted tonight, you should leave him out of there as long as possible.

“Gerrit Cole dominated this game… And if you take him out after 88 pitches, for whatever reason, I don’t know, that’s a domino effect, not just on this game tonight, on tomorrow’s game and on the rest of this series.” – Derek Jeter on Aaron Boone’s decisionpic.twitter.com/DpfEYNmFpu

— Terrible announcement (@awfulannouncing) October 26, 2024

We’re assuming Jeter was referring to Game 5 of the 2000 World Series against the New York Mets, since his Yankees won that series in five games. But his memory is otherwise good. Leiter threw 142 pitches in that game, pitching in the ninth inning. On the surface, we could even argue that Boone had less incentive to remove Cole than Bobby Valentine did with Al Leiter in 2000. Game 5 of the 2000 World Series was a home game for the Mets, the National League champions. Without DH, Leiter got on the board three times. With the universal DH in place, that wasn’t a problem for Boone in Game 1 on Friday.

Jeter is also right in his comments about a possible domino effect. Ryan Ruocco criticized the decision to have Nestor Cortes pitch in the ninth inning instead of Tim Hill. That’s a completely fair criticism of a decision that might have cost the Yankees one game. That said, the response is largely limited to Game 1. Going to the bullpen earlier than you should stretches multiple relief pitchers, potentially weakening them for future games.

That said, it’s also important to know what Cole has been up to recently.

Cole averaged 14.6 pitches per inning on Friday. Another inning at that pace would have put him somewhere just over 100 pitches. Admittedly, that doesn’t sound like much for a top pitcher like Cole. That said, Game 1 marked Cole’s 14th start since early August. In the previous 13, he threw 100 pitches just once – 101 in his final start of the regular season. In his first three postseason starts, Cole never even reached 90 pitches. So while he dominated, sending Cole for another inning wouldn’t have been without risk.

That’s not to say Jeter is wrong. But a lot has certainly changed in baseball over the past quarter century. So while the Yankees leaving Cole in the game may have been what Jeter wanted to say, it wasn’t a slam dunk.

(Photo credit: Fox Sports 1)