When things aren’t going your way, it is easy to make excuses and point fingers. We have already seen one MLB manager do that this week — and according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker has done the same.

Braves third baseman Austin Riley has had some uncharacteristic defensive mishaps lately, which became a point of discussion in a Snitker interview after the team’s loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday. To hear Bowman tell it, Snitker was looking to pass the buck in the most outrageous fashion, blaming his star’s struggles on the condition of the field at Truist Park.

In the immediate aftermath, fans online were understandably miffed at what seemed like another in an increasingly long line of baffling Snitker responses this season. But in reality, this was all much ado about nothing. When Bowman shared Snitker’s remarks on X regarding Austin Riley’s recent errors, he did not even use the full quote: “I think he’s just got some bad hops,” Snitker went on to say. “I don’t think he’s a bad infielder, some of it is just out of his control.”

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

Brian Snitker did NOT take a stab at the Braves’ grounds crew

Nowhere in Snitker’s response did he mention the grounds crew at Truist Park being the ones to blame for Riley’s errors. Bad hops are a part of baseball, regardless of where you play or who the grounds crew is or how hard they work to get the playing surface ready. It happens.

It appears that Bowman took it upon himself to make the connection that the majority of the errors Riley has made recently has been at home, and decided to put words into Snitker’s mouth by claiming the Braves’ skipper was blaming someone else for those mistakes.

While some fans unfortunately believe that Snitker does in fact have beef with the Atlanta grounds crew, others recognize the attention-seeking psychology Bowman is using and are frustrated by the insider’s actions.

As if the Braves didn’t already have enough to worry about trying to claw their way back into the NL East race, their own MLB insider is stirring up unnecessary drama because he twisted Snitker’s words.