Phillies prove Brian Snitker right after bats go silent in disappointing playoff exit

The Philadelphia Phillies proved Brian Snitker right in the worst of ways. Just one year removed from knocking the Atlanta Braves out of the postseason in their 2023 NLDS matchup, the Phillies fell in similar fashion, losing to the New York Mets in four games.

Perhaps worst of all was that the Phillies really should've seen this coming. Philadelphia was motivated to buck the trend of contenders with Wild Card round byes losing in the Division Series. However, as Snitker warned last year when the Braves fell to Philadelphia, maintaining focus after a week of can be a challenge.

“It’s hard to hit velocity when you haven’t seen anything in five days," Snitker said. "That’s my biggest thing. We had a team that set all these records and everything offensively, and we didn’t hit much in the postseason."

Is it a lame excuse by Snitker for why a historic 2023 Braves lineup fell short when it mattered most? Absolutely. Does it have some merit? Well, the Phillies offensive numbers in this very same series come 2024 tell a similar story.

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Were Phillies wrong to take offense to Brian Snitker comments?

In mid-September, back when both teams were still fighting for playoff positioning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Phillies were upset with Snitker's comment, as it took away from the team's NLDS series win. While Snitker never had that intent, he did have a problem with the postseason format, and used the Phillies series win as an example.

"A number of Phillies took offense. They believe Snitker was making excuses and demeaning their back-to-back triumphs as a Wild Card over the Braves in the DS," Rosenthal said on a FOX broadcast.

Brian Snitker had a point about MLB Postseason format, and Phillies found out the hard way

Snitker's beef was with the system, but the Phillies sure didn't take it that way. The current postseason format gives the top two seeds in each league as many as five days off while the Wild Card series' are being played. That should be an advantage, but for teams used to playing everyday for six months, a break can hurt their rhythm, especially at the plate.

"I don’t like the system quite honestly. We’re gonna have to deal with it," Snitker continued. "We better figure it out because we’re gonna try like hell this year to win the division and have five days off again. ... I think as an offensive player, when you’re not seeing, you know the lights aren’t on, the juices aren’t flowing, and you’re not seeing velocity like you’re going to face in the playoffs, you know it’s hard to score."

Snitker's team did not have to deal with the same break in action this season, as they lost in the Wild Card series to the San Diego Padres. Having experienced Snitker's beef themselves now, perhaps the Phillies clubhouse will change their tune.