Most managers these days do pay attention to the Third Time Through The Order stats. Yes, that's analytics, but something to consider in the decision. "Believing" in players only takes you so far. Do you wait until they start failing? Which may put your team behind? I don't see Rocco ONLY using analytics for this decision. There are other factors to take into account also. Health, availability of bullpen, saving some bullets over the long season. I think it's far more complicated than many seem to make it.