AJ Hinch is a Genius for Starting Jose Urquidy in Game 4 but Pulling Him Early Was the Wrong Move

In a critical Game 4 World Series matchup, Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch made the gutsy call of tabbing rookie right-hander Jose Urquidy as his starter. If he struggled to put his team in a position to knot the World Series at 2-2, it would have been viewed as the ultimate tactical blunder.

But it ended up being a genius move by Hinch to start him, as he tossed five innings of shutout baseball.

He scattered two hits over five stellar innings while striking out four batters. According to Statcast, he allowed just four hard-hit balls through his entire start.

It took an awful lot of gall for Hinch to opt for him over AL Cy Young favorite Gerrit Cole. Game 4 could have proven to be the deciding contest in this World Series if the Stros lost and suddenly needed to win three straight.

The fact that Hinch chose to save his ace in favor of an unproven rookie could have been seen as a borderline-insane decision. Fortunately for the Astros, Urquidy was locked in-- but Hinch ran the risk of blowing the whole thing up by yanking him as early as he did.

Urquidy was cruising and had thrown just 67 pitches when he was lifted in favor of Josh James. Considering how taxed Houston's relievers were entering the game and how well the Nationals have hit them in the series, it's truly head-scratching why Hinch decided to give him the hook after five frames.

The Nats responded by scoring a run almost immediately. James quickly gave way to Will Harris, who narrowly pitched out of a jam to keep things from getting worse.

All but three of Urquidy's nine appearances during the regular season saw him throw fewer than 67 pitches. He definitely could have stayed in longer, especially considering how smoothly he was dealing. Washington simply had no answer for him. Hinch did the NL champs a favor by making the change, and it could have easily blown up in his face.

In the end, the Astros took care of business and cruised to an 8-1 win. But that doesn't mean their skipper made the best possible decision in the sixth inning. He just got a little lucky-- and he may not if faced with a similar situation down the line in this series.