Well, agreed in theory but he still mixed and matched plenty in '23. Kimbrel's Game 4 blown save was in the 8th inning on the road. He also pitched in a tie game in the 9th in Game 3, which is by the book but if he had pitched in the 7th maybe he does the same thing Kerkering did [blow the save]. To me the '22 team was as much about, "if you have four closers you don't have any." And then Thomson went to Alvarado in the biggest spot and it didn't work [though arguably the mistake there was not just leaving Wheeler in].
And last year I'd argue that Estevez wasn't actually our best reliever so it kind of suited things for Hoffman and Strahm to pitcher earlier, even if that occasionally meant you might have rather had them in the 9th. Against the Mets it was largely moot of course.
But as far as the last couple of days it doesn't really matter what inning it was, the score and leverage never called for our best reliever.
