Just In: Braves manager lamented on postseason system

Braves manager Brian Snitker: ‘I don’t like the [postseason] system.’

It’s March, Spring Training is in full flow, the Texas Rangers won the World Series more than four months ago, everyone is getting ready for the regular season to begin this month, and we’re revisiting the MLB postseason system.

Braves manager Brian Snitker was on the Foul Territory show with Scott Braun, Todd Frazier, Erik Kratz, and Adam Jones on Friday to discuss that format, in which Atlanta has been ousted by the Phillies in four games each of the previous two seasons. The former Phillie Kratz questioned Snitker if the organization had any inside discussions about how to overcome their recent NLDS struggles.

The Braves’ ninth-year manager began by outlining how his club prepared for the 2023 NLDS rather than the 2022 one: intrasquad games at Truist Park, free admission for spectators to watch, batting practice, and so on.

Then he launched into an explanation that, let’s say, lacked thoughtfulness.

“The biggest thing we haven’t done is hit,” Snitker explained. “And I just don’t believe in baseball — you know, I always worry about four days off at the All-Star Break, but everybody’s going through it, not just a few of teams — you know, it’s difficult to hit velocity when you haven’t seen anything in five days. So that’s my biggest concern.

“We had a team that broke all kinds of offensive records, but we didn’t hit much in the playoffs. I’m not sure about its approach. I believe it is simply an issue of personal dislike for the system.

Since MLB added two additional Wild Card clubs and the top two division winners in each league were given first-round byes, the five-day rest period before the Division Series has been a source of disagreement in the sport. Under the present arrangement, teams with byes account for 3-5 of the total DS.

It’s easy to be lazy and criticize the structure for three 100-plus-loss clubs, including the Braves, being eliminated in the Division Series last season. Much more difficult is 10 seconds of study. Doing so would expose apparent faults in each of those three teams, which, even before the playoffs began, were big question marks in October.

The Braves were concerned about their starting pitchers’ health. The Dodgers had no starting pitchers at all. The Orioles had no playoff experience. Not only did each of those teams lose, but if you watched the actual baseball games, you could argue that they all lost for the same reasons, not because they got too much rest.

The Astros were the only bye club that did not lose in the 2023 Division Series, despite winning only 90 games in the regular season. Houston didn’t have as glaring a fault as those three, and they were the only club with six straight ALCS playoff appearances to help them overcome such difficulties, eventually falling in seven games to the Rangers in the ALCS. They also won the World Series the year before, following a first-round bye.

Perhaps Snitker is only expressing his general misgivings about the playoff structure, rather than blaming it for the Braves’ loss. Perhaps he would have said the same thing even if the Braves had won the championship. However, coming off a second-straight NLDS defeat, it will be interpreted as an excuse, and there is no way around it. Furthermore, “I’m not sure if it’s approach. I believe it is just a matter of “I don’t like the system,” which is rather clear.

The frustrations are reasonable. Baseball is a rhythm-based game with participants who are creatures of habit. The Braves had four extra-base hits in the series after having an.845 OPS throughout the regular season. Matt Olson had zero. Ronald Acuña Jr. had only one, going 2-for-14 total. The Dodgers performed similarly, with Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman going a combined 1-for-21. And those are your top four National League MVP candidates.

But there’s some necessary self-evaluation here that Snitker completely ignores, and it has nothing to do with whether fans should be allowed to watch intrasquad games in the days leading up to the NLDS. It is more organized than that.

Maybe 2022 pushed the lesson on them, but the Phillies have realized that pace during the regular season prepares them well for October. That is not to imply that the Phillies’ 14-win deficit in the regular season was due to a lack of effort on their part. The Braves were the superior regular-season team. But the Phillies’ strategy was straightforward, and it worked.

Whether it was Zack Wheeler refraining from throwing out of his shoes with max-effort velocity down the stretch, Trea Turner attempting only 30 stolen bases the entire regular season, or Bryce Harper DHing several times a week just before October, the Phillies held their punches for six months and emptied the tank when it counted. Three hundred seven homers are entertaining, but perhaps the Braves could learn from them.

Snitker was asked at the end of his response what he would do if MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred phoned him and asked if he would want to play in the Wild Card Series or keep his rest days if the Braves win their division. Snitker skirted the topic, insisting he doesn’t want an option – simply the correct amount of rest without affecting the results, or whatever.

But if, in this hypothetical, Manfred demanded an answer, we all know what Snitker would do. He said as much a minute before.

“We’re gonna have to deal with it,” he remarked in the middle of his complaint. “We better figure it out, because we are gonna try like hell to win the division and have five days off again.”

Yes. Of course, they are.