The boring thing about basing a decision purely on analytics is that it gives the athlete no opportunity to display the things that make athletes great, doing completely improbable things on the biggest stage in the biggest moments. Defying the statistics.
If a centerfielder computed the statistical probability of them making a catch before they made a dive for a ball or scaled the wall to rob a home run etc then baseball would start to be pretty damn boring.
A QB throwing a hail mary to the end zone to win a game is highly highly highly improbable that it will succeed, yet they still attempt it, and we love watching it as fans.
Snell was dealing. Nick Anderson throughout the WS and even in the series with Houston was below average. Is Nick Anderson with a 5ish ERA and a high WHIP really a better option than a Snell 3rd time through the order? Didn't seem like it and we will never know because Snell never got the opportunity to show us what makes elite athletes great.
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