Automation dependency? With or without auto throttles and FD pitch mode it's the pilot's responsibility to fly the a/c. Automation should be a backup and not the primary driver of flying.
Removing your hand from the throttles to do what, put two hands on the yoke? I've seen 105 lbs women fly with one hand so I don't understand 250 lbs guys using two hands.
If you push the TOGA and they don't work, or don't push the TOGA buttons, or push the throttles forward and but they are set at a lower power setting (ie CLB or CRZ) which drives them backwards, removing your hand from the throttles removes the tactile warning you'd get if you'd have kept your hand on the throttle.
As an industry we've become over-reliant on automation and are teaching, or accepting, habit patterns (ie hand off of thrust levers) that were unacceptable years ago. Maintaining those standards would have saved, or prevented, many incidents.