If the Atlanta Braves hadn’t hit rock-bottom already amid a miserably disappointing 2025 season, that moment probably arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Erstwhile ace Spencer Strider — one of the only members of the team’s Opening Day rotation still left standing — struggled mightily, while the Braves offense couldn’t do anything with a 40-something Justin Verlander in an ugly 9-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants. (A loss that came less than 24 hours after falling 9-0 on Tuesday night.)
The Braves were already looking like sellers at this month’s trade deadline, but now the final nail has more or less been driven into the coffin. This team is on a 70-win pace right now; the cavalry isn’t coming, and Strider himself seems to understand the finality of the situation as much as anyone. The righty called both his team’s performance and his own “embarrassing” after the game, and told reporters (per The Athletic’s David O’Brien) that he was well aware the team’s play would result in major changes coming.
Strider said the #Braves’ performance has been “embarassing” and made sure to note that especially includes his own. Said players have talked for two months about how they knew they might be saying goodbye to some friends before the trade deadline if the team didn’t play better.
— David O’Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 23, 2025
It’s tough to disagree with anything Strider said there. And it’s also hard not to appreciate so much candor from an athlete in this situation, the sort of honest reckoning that Strider hasn’t shied away from all year. If anything, the Braves could’ve used a lot more of this attitude a lot sooner. And that awkward truth should have the team and its fans counting down the days until Brian Snitker’s contract is up.
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Braves are desperately in need of a new voice for 2026 and beyond
Where has this been over the last few months? That’s not to say that a pep talk here or a benching there would’ve fixed what was wrong with the 2025 Braves; no amount of emotional leadership can atone for the front office’s bullpen neglect, injuries to just about every meaningful pitcher and regression from several key members of the lineup. But all too often this year, Snitker has felt asleep at the switch, refusing to raise the alarm despite ample evidence that more time and patience wasn’t the answer.
Snitker is a franchise legend, and his place in Atlanta lore was secure even before he helped bring the team another World Series title in 2021. But the most fire he’s shown this season came when he was starting an unnecessary controversy with face of the franchise Ronald Acuña Jr. This is a veteran team with plenty of proven players, but it was clear a while ago that some sort of spark was needed. Snitker was manifestly not the right guy to provide it, as evidenced by the fact that Strider was the one doing his job for him on Wednesday afternoon.
The team thinks too highly of Snitker to dump him unceremoniously, as it should. But with his contract up at the end of this season, the writing is more than on the wall. It’s time for a change of direction, someone who can get Atlanta back playing up to its talent level. Who knows, maybe Strider is willing to bring back to the days of the player-manager?
