Brian Snitker has had a huge impact on this Atlanta Braves team.
By James Kunkle
The Atlanta Braves in this year of the survivors
It feels like every year, October baseball becomes more challenging to predict due to the ever changing nature of the game. This October has been no exception and the evolution of the bullpen’s and short leashes for starters has been rampant.
Sure, Snitker has joined in on the movement but it feels like his leash is still a little longer than most everyone else’s has been.
Some would say he left Charlie Morton in too long for game one of the division series, but at the time who could blame him because the bullpen had been sub-par all season long. No one knew that Tyler Matzek and Will Smith were about to become the next dominant bullpen duo.
It did indeed feel like he evolved after that game though, because then he adjusted on the fly and it’s worked out perfectly.
After all, it might be Brian Snitker’s managing choice during game 6 of the NLCS against the Dodgers that is the biggest reason why we are heading to the fall classic.
It was only the fourth inning and Ian Anderson was seemingly rolling along to a good start, but feeling his team needed an offensive spark, Snitker decided to pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fourth with Ehire Adrianza.
Obviously, we now know what Adrianza did and what Rosario would eventually do the next at-bat. Little things like that are the difference maker this time of the year.