{"id":54051,"date":"2025-05-09T07:36:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T07:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54051"},"modified":"2025-05-09T07:36:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T07:36:57","slug":"report-braves-fans-should-be-furious-after-brian-snitker-doubles-down-on-bizarre-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54051","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Braves fans should be furious after Brian Snitker doubles down on bizarre call"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_701,y_339,w_7510,h_4224\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01jtqnh8g93v0t2za1jv.jpg\" alt=\"Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves - Game One\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Pinch hitting isn&#8217;t as big a part of the game of baseball these days with the adoption of the universal DH. Lineup spots are less flexible without pitchers involved anymore and the vast majority of bench players are employed because of their defensive ability, not for their offensive prowess.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">However, Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker found a way to make a truly bizarre pinch hitting choice vs. the Reds that cost the team big.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">In the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday, the Braves were down by a run and Michael Harris II had just singled with two outs to bring the winning run to the plate. Given that\u00a0Eli White\u00a0was supposed to be that hitter, this was surprisingly promising given that\u00a0White has been one of the Braves&#8217; hottest hitters\u00a0of late.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The problem is that Snitker instead chose to pinch hit Eddie Rosario who hasn&#8217;t hit basically at all for two years for White in that spot. Predictably,\u00a0Rosario struck out to end the game\u00a0and when asked about the decision after the game, Snitker&#8217;s decision left a lot to be desired.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"min-h-[550px]\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1920305306510209182&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fhousethathankbuilt.com%2Fbrian-snitker-explanation-baffling-pinch-hit-decision-made-things-even-worse&amp;sessionId=a2029ce0e0395b4646ba55283457a76a6de51764&amp;siteScreenName=HouseHankBuilt&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Snitker on PH&#8217;ing Eddie Rosario for Eli White against Emilio Pag\u00e1n in 9th: &#8220;This guy&#8217;s got better numbers (against) right-handers. Way better. And I thought maybe Eddie could recreate some old magic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>(RHB are 1-for-29 w\/ 12 Ks vs. Pag\u00e1n)<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David O&#8217;Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 8, 2025<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Brian Snitker&#8217;s slavish devotion to handedness matchups cost the Braves a chance to win<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Snitker\u00a0<em>is<\/em>\u00a0right about the fact that Emilio Pagan has been much better against righties than lefties this year so far. All other things being equal, choosing the left-handed option in that spot is easily defensible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Where Snitker loses us is that this is not a situation where the options were equal and his decision ignored some key details.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">First, Pagan may have looked good against righties in a small sample this year, but his career splits tell a more complicated story. Just last season, righties hit .289 off of him. Moreover, White has actually looked\u00a0<strong>great<\/strong>\u00a0against right-handed pitchers this season with a .922 OPS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">If you are going to look at platoon splits, you have to look at both sides of the coin.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The bigger sin, though, was that\u00a0Rosario was the left-handed option\u00a0in this scenario. No one is arguing that Rosario didn&#8217;t carry the Braves in the 2021 playoffs and we are eternally grateful. However, he hasn&#8217;t been good since that playoff run and hasn&#8217;t hit lefties or righties in years at this point. Snitker thinking that he could &#8220;recreate some old magic&#8221; is a thought process that is completely divorced from reality and one that took the bat out of one of their hottest hitters&#8217; hands.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Would the Braves have found a way to tie the game if White hit instead of Rosario? No idea. There were two outs and White wasn&#8217;t guaranteed to get on base in that spot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">However, the left-handed hitting Drake Baldwin was coming up next and\u00a0he was having a great game\u00a0to that point. Baseball should be about maximizing one&#8217;s chances to win and on Thursday, Snitker decidedly did not do that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pinch hitting isn&#8217;t as big a part of the game of baseball these days with the adoption of the universal DH. Lineup spots are less flexible without&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>REPORT: Braves fans should be furious after Brian Snitker doubles down on bizarre call - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=54051\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"REPORT: Braves fans should be furious after Brian Snitker doubles down on bizarre call - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pinch hitting isn&#8217;t as big a part of the game of baseball these days with the adoption of the universal DH. 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