4 Braves to blame for brutal Game 3 loss to Phillies

Brian Snitker deserves blame for Braves' bullpen snafu

Look, Brian Snitker is the manager. At the end of the day, coaches get blamed for every result — especially on the postseason stage. He faced an impossible decision between Elder and Smith-Shawver, two flawed options. He made what is ostensibly the wrong choice. How else can you describe it after Elder's disastrous third inning?

Of course, Smith-Shawver went 2.2 innings in the middle of the game and was similarly ineffective. Snitker's bullpen management on the whole was rather poor. Michael Tonkin quickly gave up two hits in less than an inning after replacing Elder. Brad Hand went one inning and gave up a run. Daysbel Hernandez finished the night by plunking Kyle Schwarber with a slider. It was ugly all around.

The options were limited. There's no way around it. Morton has a metric ton of postseason experience. Wright is a former Cy Young candidate. A healthy Braves rotation doesn't run into this problem at such a critical juncture in the season. But, you play the hand you're dealt, and Snitker misplayed his hand.

Atlanta will face a steep road to recovering their season. With Strider on the mound in Game 4, pitching is less of a concern. But, the Phillies still have all the offensive momentum and a fiery crowd at their back. It will take true resilience from this Braves squad to get this series back to Atlanta.

Game 4 is when Philadelphia closed out the series last year. If Snitker doesn't get his team in the right headspace for Friday night, his team will suffer the same fate in 2023.