Braves’ Game 3 win full of risk, but plenty of reward for Brian Snitker

After five no-hit innings and only 76 pitches, Braves manager Brian Snitker approached Ian Anderson in the dugout, shook his hand and informed him his night was over.

The decision illustrated the current state of modern baseball and simultaneously set the internet ablaze. Should Snitker have kept Anderson in the game and allowed him to continue pursuing the no-hitter? Or did Snitker make the right decision by not having Anderson face the top of the Astros’ lineup for a third time, maximizing the Braves’ chances of winning?

At first, the decision was curious. Anderson, 23, was cruising and in control the second time through the Astros’ lineup. But his statline was deceiving. He threw 39 strikes and 37 balls. He struck out four, but walked three and hit a batter. Astros manager Dusty Baker called Anderson as “effectively wild,” with Snitker adding that he felt Anderson had only one inning left and wanted to turn the game over to a bullpen that has been very good throughout the postseason.

“One of the things was he’d thrown a lot of pitches to the top half of that lineup,” Snitker said. “The fourth inning he really had to work to get through that. He had a really good fifth inning. But I’m just like, ‘Ian, I’m going with my gut right here.’”

Braves: Removing Ian Anderson was the right call

It turned out to be the right decision, with the Braves winning 2-0 and extending their World Series lead over the Astros to 2-1. It continued what has been a dominant start to Anderson’s career, with his 1.26 ERA in 35.2 innings and 7-1 record through eight starts making him one of the best postseason starters in baseball history.

But taking Anderson out after the fifth, instead of keeping him in the game, placed additional strain on a bullpen that will see significant action in Games 4 and 5. Snitker is OK with that. He wanted to win Game 3 and worry about the other games on Saturday and Sunday. But the Braves don’t have Mike Soroka or Charlie Morton available. Instead, they will rely on bullpen games this weekend and count on relievers not named Tyler Matzek, Luke Jackson, Will Smith and AJ Minter to record meaningful outs.

Risky? Of course. But this is postseason baseball. This is how they’ve gotten here in the first place. And considering that the Astros were not relieved when Anderson was removed, and instead concerned about facing the Braves’ bullpen, suggests that Snitker made the right move.

It’s also the reality that Snitker and the Braves find themselves in and while the decision to pull Anderson was the correct move on Friday, the coming days will reveal its true wisdom. After losing Morton for the season, they have only one other starting pitcher: left-hander Max Fried, who is scheduled to start a potential Game 6. Without Morton and Soroka, and no reinforcements on the way, the Braves have to get creative in recording 27 outs.

Which placed further importance on Anderson pitching deep into Game 3. Entering Friday, Snitker had given him a short leash this postseason, with Anderson throwing 12 innings combined in his first three starts. But the conditions to pitch or hit Friday were suboptimal. The temperature at first pitch was 49 degrees. A chilling mist dropped from the skies most of the game. Astros starter Luis Garcia said that his cleats were “really bad” and that he “didn’t feel comfortable on the mound.” So it was especially impressive that Anderson pitched as long, and as effectively, as he did.

After the game, Anderson reflected. He wanted to go back on the mound, of course. It’s why he asked Snitker “Are you sure?” twice before he was removed from the game. But he understood the decision. He was not upset. Instead, he smiled and laughed, and said that “The way the playoffs have been played and managed, I think you can’t fault Snit for making that move.”

Anderson handled the decision about as well as any pitcher could have and it goes a long way in explaining why he’s been so good in these moments only 14 months after making his MLB debut. It was the fourth scoreless postseason start of five or more innings in his entire career. It would have been the first no-hitter of his entire career.

Snitker doubled down on the decision after the game. He did not care about the historical aspect of the decision. He wanted to win a baseball game. But he conceded that, “The me of old, a couple of years ago, I would have thought, ‘How the hell am I doing this?’”

But this is not a couple years ago. This is now. And while the decision to remove a pitcher with a no-hitter upset a lot of old school baseball people, it secured a Braves victory that brought them within two games of winning their first World Series since 1996.

Anderson’s resistance, or lack thereof, confirmed it was the right move. But the decision to remove him was the latest proof that workhorse starting pitchers are rapidly becoming a thing of the past.