The Atlanta Braves survived an extra innings battle with the Minnesota Twins last night to improve to 72-60 on the season. The Braves are now 8-2 over their last ten games, and a lot of credit goes out to Atlanta’s pitching staff.
In particular, the Braves’ bullpen has been doing some heavy lifting over the last few weeks. However, yesterday’s game provided more evidence that manager Brian Snitker isn’t always pushing the right buttons.
Snitker’s bullpen management hasn’t been ideal
Last Sunday, Snitker made the choice to go to Luke Jackson in the seventh inning of a tie ballgame. That decision ultimately cost the Braves the lead, and eventually the game. Last night the bullpen was asked to cover more innings as starter Spencer Schwellenbach went just 4.2 innings.
Per usual, Dylan Lee stepped up and got a big strikeout to escape the jam in the bottom of the fifth. However, that would end up being the only batter Lee would face. One of their best relievers facing just one batter with four innings remaining was puzzling to say the least…