It has been a while since there has been a big kerfuffle regarding Brian Snitker's in-game management decisions for the Atlanta Braves. Early on, his lineup construction had fans pulling their hair out and his bullpen management felt like he was using a roulette wheel. Over time though, Snit grew as a manager and he became one of the most respected managers in baseball.
That doesn't mean that he isn't capable of making mistakes and it seems like he may have made one with Spencer Strider in his return from the injured list on Wednesday. Strider was keeping the Braves' matchup with the Jays close, but he had some tough innings along the way and was at 85ish pitches by the end of the fifth inning.
Most managers would have seen this in Strider's situation and pulled him after a job well done. However, Snit decided to keep Strider in the game for the sixth and that is where things went wrong.
Brian Snitker reverted to his old mistakes in keep Spencer Strider in a bit too long
In fairness to Snit, this decision wasn't the Braves' biggest problem in this game. Strider was pitching quite well and it was the offense's complete no-show that was the biggest problem. If someone said before the game that Strider would go 5+ innings and give up two runs, fans would have taken that every time.
Despite that being EXACTLY what happened, the process matters here and it didn't feel like there was much of one to speak of. Strider is still working his way back to a full workload and to immediately make a decision to push his pitch count was asking for trouble. Predictably, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got a hanging breaking ball from Strider and did what guys like him do with those types of mistakes and made a comeback all the tougher.
Moreover, running Strider out there was a bad idea even if he threw another scoreless frame. The Braves have an off day coming up and going to the bullpen would have been a pretty safe option and would have prevented any issues with soreness with their prized young pitcher. Strider gave them 85 pitches and Snit should have taken that and run. Instead, Dylan Lee had to get ready quickly and got put in during an awkward spot of the game.
Instead, he reverted back to a familiar habit in trusting his guys logic be damned. It only resulted in one more run and didn't really cost Atlanta the game, but baseball is a game of inches and this was a reminder that sometimes (and it is only sometimes) Snit gives some of those inches back in the name of loyalty.