What the Nats-Yankees series revealed about Dave Martinez’s bullpen vision

This is when Martinez made the calculated decision to line up Hand, a lefty, for the three tough righties. Hand entered with a 0.00 ERA in 10 innings and 24 straight converted save opportunities dating from 2019. LeMahieu and Stanton, though, have hit lefties much better than righties throughout their careers. Judge’s splits are nearly even, though he has had more success against lefties in 2021, a small sample. So while the textbook says to throw Hudson at them, Martinez stayed with Hand, his closer, for the three biggest matchups of the evening. LeMahieu, Stanton or Judge could tie the score with one swing.