Brian Snitker excuse for latest Luke Jackson bullpen mistake is inexcusable

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker asked all fans to pump the brakes after the team's recent hot stretch, and for good reason. The oft-injured Braves -- without Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, AJ Minter and more -- have suddenly gotten hot, winning nine of their last 13 games despite a loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

However, every loss matters at this juncture, which is why the Braves have to perfectionists, even with an imperfect roster. Sunday's game was a winnable one for Atlanta, but an inefficient bullpen got the best of them. Snitker opted to insert Luke Jackson into another high-leverage situation which went very poorly. Jackson gave up two earned runs -- the winning runs, I might add -- and recorded only one out. When asked about the matter postgame, Snitker didn't have a good answer.

“[Jackson] closed games for us years ago,” Snitker said. “You’ve just got to stay with him. It’s probably just location.”

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Brian Snitker's reasoning for sticking with Luke Jackson won't cut it for Braves

What Jackson did years ago doesn't justify how the Braves are using him now. This season, Jackson has a 5.93 ERA, and that number has jumped about 90 points since early August. He shouldn't be used as a back-end reliever at this juncture, especially when Atlanta has other arms to choose from. Jesse Chavez, for example, would've made a lot of sense. Chavez hadn't pitched in 10 days, and was eventually used later in the game.

“We’ve been going to our leverage guys,” Snitker said of why he didn't pitch Chavez earlier. “He hasn’t been hurt or anything like that. It’s just that we’ve been winning games and going to the guys that we go to.”

Jackson's days as a high-leverage relief pitcher ended long ago. He underwent Tommy John surgery after the Braves won the 2021 World Series, and hasn't delivered much since then. Daysbel Hernández could be suitable solution, and Atlanta could even throw the likes of Pierce Johnson into the late-innings mix. Heck, the Braves have a slew of Triple-A arms they could call up from Gwinnett!

Sticking with Jackson, though, isn't going to cut it.