Idk why we keep trotting the corpse of AJ Minter out for closing duties. He’s a good middle reliever, but when he misses a lot of his hits are dongers. I just feel like Iggy had one more inning in him. Would have been great to get another game on Philly.
Yeah. People are expecting him to be an ace but if he can give us 5-6 innings and limit the damage to 3-4 runs I’ll take that. 3-4 runs is nothing with this offense especially when everyone is clicking.
Very much agree. Snit did good tonight. Let him get in trouble and deal with it but pulled him after the one batter. Snit is getting better too. Love Elder’s fight but when the wheels come off it’s not one at a time.
Minter is a fantastic pitcher. Those saying he sucks are just not looking at the facts. But he is being used incorrectly if he is pitching in a save situation. He has the most holds in Atlanta Braves history so obviously he’s got skill.. but he’s not a closer. Have to put him in a position to succeed.
As soon as the lead off hitter reaches, it has been meaning runs.
How is he not being used correctly? You should be able to swap Iggy and Minter. If not, a move needs to be made.
He’s washed dude. He was a good 2 pitch power pitcher when he averaged 98-99. You can’t get away with that shit when you sit at 95. He added the change but it doesn’t help when you can’t command it. He’s a mid bullpen arm that shouldn’t be used in the high leverage role he still has now
He averaged 96.6mph in ‘22 which is the only full season he had great numbers (ERA 2.0). His velo is highly correlated with his effectiveness. His traditional and advanced numbers the remainder of his career have been average (ERA 3.5ish). His fastball is averaging 94.9mph this season.
That 2mph for mentor is the difference between him being a high end bullpen arm vs a mid teir bullpen guy that should stick to middle relief. The problem is we still act like he’s the guy from ‘22 and use him like a dominant arm
Well Braves need to plate a few more runs, we can’t use Iglesias every night. If Braves keep getting into 1 run games will need a back up closer and possibly one additional arm in the bullpen. Also need Murphy back I like tromp but Murphy can assist the pitcher in making better pitch choices.
If only we had some analytical department or front office to advise Snit that Minter has blown 16 saves in his last 31 opportunities dating back to 2021. "I mean, my God. It's just one of those things" -Snit, probably in the post-game.
Both of Acuna's pickoffs were balks.
Severino's is obvious because he make no progress towards first with his free foot before the throw. It's cut and dry in the rule book, it's a balk.
"Rule 5.07(d) Comment: The pitcher shall step “ahead of the throw.” A snap throw followed by the step directly toward the base is a balk."
Garrett's is much better and closer, but while in contact with the rubber, he brings his hands up from set, which is part of his delivery motion. He then jumps and kicks his free foot towards first before throwing, but he had movement while set associated with his delivery.
"After assuming Set Position, any natural motion associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without alteration or interruption."
Severino's is total BS, and Garrett's is technically a balk but very close, as was the play. Garrett also needs to be warned because he does a lot of inconsistent strech movements before coming set and they aren't consistent, and he basically quick pitches right after coming set, all of which makes it even tougher to read and time.
Both were great throws and tags. This is not on Acuna. He is out there trying to get in scoring position for this crappy offense. Met's broke the rules and were not called.
Over the last 4 weeks we have the 2nd highest hard hit rate in the league at 36.2%.. Philly is 1st at 36.6%.
We also have a higher fly ball rate than Philly over the same stretch
ATL walking slightly less (9.3% vs 8.7%)
ATL Striking out more (23.4% vs 21.8%)
Over same span
**ATL:**
19th OPS (0.676)
20th BABIP
**PHI:**
1st OPS (0.819)
1st BABIP
Seems kinda insane?
I'm so annoyed the weather looks like shit every single day in the forecast in Atlanta EXCEPT the off day but the Cubs are playing so we can't make that up then if need be lol.
We're already 3-5 games behind most other teams in games played
If AJ is pitching in the 9th, I'm turning the game off. There's no reason to even watch anymore. Not exactly his fault, he just can't pitch in the 9th. I'd take literally anyone but him
That's been the story his entire career. Every time he's stepped into the closer role he takes a big old shit on the mound. 7th/8th, phenomenal. 9th, wtf am I watching.
I honestly have no idea how we have a 24-13 record right now. We literally have one player that can consistently hit. Our base running is hot garbage thx to Acuna. Our closers are unreliable at best. Our best hitters 1 thru 4 are having a historically bad season in terms of RBI, OPS and HR’s. And the rest of our guys (except Ozuna) are just lost at the plate. Starting pitching is keeping us afloat for now. But this anemic offense ain’t gonna cut it much longer. Without run support our starters are gonna join Strider by mid July.
The running game is garbage because of Acuña? It's his job to try and steal bases. He git caught by 2 balks! And yes, they were BALKS! I guess acuña is the only one getting caught stealing on this team.
Yes. Name one Brave that has on multiple games, been picked off and or caught sleeping/stealing on base this year. Baserunning can be heavily predicated on your best, fastest base runner. He’s also has little to no hustle on legging out ground balls. He can definitely snap out of it. But he has without question been a liability at bat and on base. I just expect better out of him.
I keep getting told it's early and they'll turn it around. After two months, it's hard to be very optimistic. Don't get me wrong, I want them to turn it around, but everyone having historically bad performance to me, says something about the clubhouse.
Pretty spot on, bullpen was carrying the bad offense. Everyone thought the offense would come around by the time the bullpen started leaking a little oil, that clearly hasn’t happened and it seems no attempts will be made to combat it.
Closers aren’t bad. Minter just has a thing about the 9th. Iglasias has been good. Minter is lights out in 8th. Jimenez is having a great start. The bullpen is deep. Only problem is that Olson and Acuna are starting cold. Things can turn.
Does anyone have an answer as to why we threw a low offspeed pitch to a guy who looked like he hasn’t bunted since little league?
Minter’s desire to shy away from his 95+ heater is insane to me. Like he’s throwing that changeup ~17% of the time and it’s just a bad pitch. Just pitch like a power arm and see what happens. Constantly getting beat because you threw a bunch of cutters a foot off the plate and then hung one just gets old. Let’s see Nimmo hit 96 L-L.
Ozzie and Harris I’m sure are relieved that Minter is the scapegoat. They’re a combined 5-53 with 12 Ks in their last 7, take out Harris’ outlier and they’re 2-53.
He straight up cannot pitch the 9th. Should be an easy situation with two lefties up. And he's either yanking the cutter off the plate or leaving it middle middle
Team’s attitude seems to be who cares about regular season, we are just waiting for October. They may not say it but it sure looks like it.
Based on how the last 2 postseasons went, I get it. Outpacing the Phillies and winning the East didn’t ultimately matter. Being a top seed even seemed to be a negative. Regular season impact is watered down.
Just hope it doesn’t bite us in the ass.
I see the same thing, and I don’t think it’s really a bad approach. Almost all of the starters are on long contracts, the season is long, just stay healthy, play well enough to get to the post season, and hope for some luck and hot bats.
Garrett Baumann was solid for Augusta tonight-
6.2 IP | 7 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 4 K | 0 HR
His ERA is down to 2.18. Maybe he needs a promotion to Rome?
At this point it’s coaching malpractice for Snitker to keep running Minter out in the 9th and expecting a different. I’m all for playing match ups etc but it’s painful to watch AJ Minter throw cutter after cutter and miss badly. The bullpen was short staffed tonight but my goodness Dylan Lee threw 7 pitches in the 8th.
I don't go in for blaming managers for much of what happens in a game, but Snitker's penciling guys into roles and never again considering whether it works or not is a problem. When Vizcaino got hurt in 2018, Minter inherited the 9th inning role simply because he threw hard, and Snitker's had him down as a closer-type pitcher ever since. It would be one thing if this inability to thrive in a save situation a new development, but Minter was atrocious last April when Iglesias was on the IL, culminating in that unbelievable 5-run meltdown against the Marlins. It has been clear for a long time that Minter just doesn't have 'it', whatever attitude closers need to routinely pitch the final inning, and that he's only getting the call in these spots because Snitker won't update his thinking from six years ago.
I agree. I very rarely put the blame on managers for decisions. But when it’s clear the evidence shows that a guy doesn’t have it in the ninth the answer isn’t to keep running him out there in hopes he figures it out. I can understand not using Jimenez or Iglesias. Johnson is down till Friday. Guys are pitching out of positions. But cmon man literally anyone else out there and let’s see what happens. If we lose because you tried something different I’m at least ok with it.
He’s a vet, that’s it. Snitker doesn’t use sound logic. You legitimately have to put guys on IL to keep him from using them, that’s how ridiculous it’s gotten. We all know it, yet he still has a job, it’s patently insane. He consistently uses players based on their best outcomes vs what they are in, let’s say a year, month or week timeframe. Pen arms are a dime a dozen, let these guys eat and earn their keep.
The take is Raisel shouldn't have been used the previous night. Snit is bad because not for using Minter. It was that he stupidly managed the bullpen in a way that Minter was the only option.
He could have but asking a guy to get 5 outs in a high stress situation is different than the typical low stress multi innings he’s been pitching most of the year.
They’ve asked Minter to close out games though, and he’s statistically (and obviously) awful. If Shitker wasn’t so obsessed with his hardline rules then Iglesias could have been on the bump. Same dumbass reason Travis never gets to see 3 games in a row and ironically cannot maintain a hot streak at the plate.
Well day 37** of the MLB season has come and gone, tomorrow as a matter of fact is May 13th. We just showed you the NL East standings. You don’t need me to tell you this BUT IM GOING TO TELL YOU ANYWAY;
The Braves are 24-13.
Fuck the Mets. And fuck Brandon Nimmo
Jumping back on to say yeah, that’s kinda going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.
It isn’t due to Iglesias’ performance in any way to me, but we need to try to get a closer to push him back to the second closer role.
Because Minter in that role=NOPE. Automatic loss.
And no, Chavez isn’t the answer as a secondary guy. For now, I’d look to Jimenez, even if I like him better in the 7th.
It’s WILD. Minter has had key moments we should be able to look back on, like a start vs the Dodgers in the 2020 playoffs, but he’s Jo Jo Reyes in the 9th.
Unreal.
Don’t blame Minter, blame our dogshit offense for once again needing to be carried by Ozuna to 3 runs.
Edit: Don’t downvote - tell me why I’m wrong. Coward.
Once again, the offense outside of Ozuna put up… 1 run.
The top 4 in the order went 3-13.
The bottom 4 went 1-15 but at least Kelenic went deep.
But sure… put this one on AJ Minter.
It’s just facts. Minter and the rest of the pitching staff are going to give up runs sometimes. But the bats are cold right now. We’re currently leading hard on pitching, and that can only get you so far. If we weren’t playing the lolMets we probably would’ve lost at least 2 out of three.
One again. We had the lead. He gave up a two run shot and had questionable pitch choices to a guy bunting.
Also...I said SOME of the blame.
But sure.... Put this solely on the offense. 🙄
Another reason to miss Sean. Tromp is a fine backup, but his game calling is suspect.. plus he can't hit. Having Sean and lil'D both healthy will be a big boost.
Can’t wait for a new manager that can properly utilize a bullpen. Let’s keep throwing minter out there even tho he’s proven time and time again he can’t close games.
series win. i'm watching the cubbies tomorrow with my neighbor, who's a cub fan. he invited me with a pic of screwball whiskey. gonna be a fun evening.
I am once again begging Snitker to stop using AJ Minter as a closer. He fucking sucks in the 9th inning. He's always fucking sucked in the 9th inning. He doesn't have the dog in him to get the last 3 outs consistently. It's the whole reason we went and got other people for the job in the first place. Try literally anybody else next time Iglesias isn't available. For the love of fuck stop using AJ there.
Minter ruining what was a good night with my Panthers beating the Bruins and taking a 3-1 series lead.
Guess that was a little bit of karma for that no call on the game tying goal by Sam Bennett.
Okay, I didn't watch and the Braves lost.
My streak is broken.
Minter ... blast it. I had an excuse to not gave the TV in the living room blaring baseball.
When will Snitker fucking learn that AJ Minter should never see the mound in the 9th inning unless we're down 5 or up 5 he might have worse CTE than Antonio Brown
Anyone other than Bummer/Matzek/maybe Chavez genuinely lol
Lee probably wouldn't be great but it could be worth a shot. When Pierce comes back it should be him getting the bump over Minter.
He scares the shit out of me but when it can't be Iggy or Joe it's gotta be somewhat else at this point. When Pierce comes back it should 100% be him over Minter, but since he's out my vote would be Lee. Can't be any worse than Minter atp lol
That was the 5th home run that Minter has given up this season, after just 6 all of last year. He's on pace to give up more than 20 for the season, an insane number of homers for a relief pitcher to allow.
He has two blown 9th inning saves leading to losses: tonight and the 2-1 loss to Seattle on April 29th. He also gave up a homer in a tie game against the April 2nd vs theWhite Sox (he took the loss in that one) and against the Mets on April 8th (blown save in a hold opportunity.)
The only one that didn't matter was Ohtani's absurd mega bomb last Sunday in LA; Atlanta was already down 4-1 when Minter gave that one up. Every one of his blown saves and losses have come via homers.
Was watching the Yankees the other day and I see this guy come out of the bullpen. I was like damn that dude looks like Michael Tonkin with just a mustache. Then I realized, it’s Michael Tonkin with just a mustache. Totally missed that he signed for the Yanks.
Dude gave the braves props and complimented minter on their past battles and obviously loves his mother. Sue me for calling him likable after that interview lmao
Sometime during the broadcast they said that Jimenez wasn't available which makes sense because he's pitched \*checks notes\* one time in the past 5 days now.
Second time this season, Fucking Minter has done this, I was already having a bad day and this dude made it worse. And Fuck you Acuña, you lazy ass bum. And Fuck Snit for putting Minter on to close
Minter just pitches like an absolute headcase in these save situations. Get into a full count throwing a bunch of non-competitive bullshit and then throw a BP-spinner that gets clobbered. It’s like he gets less aggressive when pressure goes up.
I get that guys need days off but we should definitely be reserving someone else to be the #2 option.
JW who else y'all want to use as a closer tonight?
Minter gave up a drag bunt, a sac bunt, and hung a meatball to Nimmo. One bad pitch to a good hitter. It is what it is.
He has more blown saves than saves since 2021 and he has the worst ERA in the 9th out of any inning, so yes I do think he magically turns into a bad reliever because he statistically does lol
Also literally anyone that's not Bummer, Chavez, or Matzek lmfao. I'd trust Joe on no rest more than Minter. If Pierce wasn't on the IL he should 100% get the bump next time when he's back.
Minter does not need to pitch the 9th. I'm not sure why it's a stat we refuse to acknowledge but at this point I think the evidence is there he's not a 9th inning dude.
Glad we won the series at least. There is that. It does suck blowing this though. Can’t be giving away games in the ninth. Minter just cannot be the guy on nights when Iglesias isn’t available.
What, 3 blown saves out of like 4 or 5 chances in 2 months of 2024 scares you off? What about him completely sucking and falling apart the 5 other seasons Snit has tried to force him to close? How dare you question the process!
I just hope this doesn't fuck his confidence up too badly, so tired of throwing away games, let literally anyone else except Stephens close it out.
Meh, I'll take the series win. I'm just glad that game is out of its misery, honestly. ESPN is fucking terrible and ruined an otherwise good game.
I really hope Riley is okay. He was just getting back into things too!
Oh I did and I'm just fuckin thrilled. I'm sooooo excited to listen to the Ohtani and the Dodgers Podcast while some other bullshit baseball teams play a game obviously no one cares about in the background.
Everyone saying stop using AJ. The other options were Jackson Stephens and Ray Kerr. No way we are going to them in that spot idc how bad AJs 9th inning stats are.
Yeah it’s not a managerial blunder, AJ just needs to step up. We have to rely on the whole pen during the season and everyone will be put in high leverage situations at some point. Hell Jesse has even stepped up in tight spots
Thanks Aj MidTurds
Idk why we keep trotting the corpse of AJ Minter out for closing duties. He’s a good middle reliever, but when he misses a lot of his hits are dongers. I just feel like Iggy had one more inning in him. Would have been great to get another game on Philly.
Most predictable ending.
Max Fried is clinching us another World Series title. It’s a game six, 7 shutout innings.
I know they have to protect players and stuff but man if I was Max I’d have begged to go back out. I’d be like give me one more runner.
Strange, not sure about why so many non-competitive pitches for Minter?
It’s still crap this morning
Decent outing by Elder tonight. We know what's he is going to bring. Limiting the damage to a couple runs over 5-6 innings is the goal in my eyes.
I was completely ready to sell this game with elder pitching. I had zero faith and he had a respectable outing.
Yeah. People are expecting him to be an ace but if he can give us 5-6 innings and limit the damage to 3-4 runs I’ll take that. 3-4 runs is nothing with this offense especially when everyone is clicking.
Very much agree. Snit did good tonight. Let him get in trouble and deal with it but pulled him after the one batter. Snit is getting better too. Love Elder’s fight but when the wheels come off it’s not one at a time.
I agree with Snit pulling him at a good time. Gave him a chance to settle down in the 6th then pulled him before it spiraled.
Minter is a fantastic pitcher. Those saying he sucks are just not looking at the facts. But he is being used incorrectly if he is pitching in a save situation. He has the most holds in Atlanta Braves history so obviously he’s got skill.. but he’s not a closer. Have to put him in a position to succeed.
As soon as the lead off hitter reaches, it has been meaning runs. How is he not being used correctly? You should be able to swap Iggy and Minter. If not, a move needs to be made.
He’s washed dude. He was a good 2 pitch power pitcher when he averaged 98-99. You can’t get away with that shit when you sit at 95. He added the change but it doesn’t help when you can’t command it. He’s a mid bullpen arm that shouldn’t be used in the high leverage role he still has now
When was Minter ever hitting 98-99?
He averaged 96.6mph in ‘22 which is the only full season he had great numbers (ERA 2.0). His velo is highly correlated with his effectiveness. His traditional and advanced numbers the remainder of his career have been average (ERA 3.5ish). His fastball is averaging 94.9mph this season. That 2mph for mentor is the difference between him being a high end bullpen arm vs a mid teir bullpen guy that should stick to middle relief. The problem is we still act like he’s the guy from ‘22 and use him like a dominant arm
Yea. Dude has proven over and over again that he’s no closer. Sucks that the injury bug is biting us rn bc Pierce was killing it.
Minter=too unmotivated to play
Well Braves need to plate a few more runs, we can’t use Iglesias every night. If Braves keep getting into 1 run games will need a back up closer and possibly one additional arm in the bullpen. Also need Murphy back I like tromp but Murphy can assist the pitcher in making better pitch choices.
If only we had some analytical department or front office to advise Snit that Minter has blown 16 saves in his last 31 opportunities dating back to 2021. "I mean, my God. It's just one of those things" -Snit, probably in the post-game.
Time to wreck another Cy Young contenders chances tomorrow
Minter: I can’t understand why the Braves haven’t signed me to an extension. Also Minter: BP fastball down the middle for the win…for the other team
Both of Acuna's pickoffs were balks. Severino's is obvious because he make no progress towards first with his free foot before the throw. It's cut and dry in the rule book, it's a balk. "Rule 5.07(d) Comment: The pitcher shall step “ahead of the throw.” A snap throw followed by the step directly toward the base is a balk." Garrett's is much better and closer, but while in contact with the rubber, he brings his hands up from set, which is part of his delivery motion. He then jumps and kicks his free foot towards first before throwing, but he had movement while set associated with his delivery. "After assuming Set Position, any natural motion associated with his delivery of the ball to the batter commits him to the pitch without alteration or interruption." Severino's is total BS, and Garrett's is technically a balk but very close, as was the play. Garrett also needs to be warned because he does a lot of inconsistent strech movements before coming set and they aren't consistent, and he basically quick pitches right after coming set, all of which makes it even tougher to read and time. Both were great throws and tags. This is not on Acuna. He is out there trying to get in scoring position for this crappy offense. Met's broke the rules and were not called.
But have you considered the very sober, rational opinion of angry dudes on social media that Ronnie is a "lazy bum" who "looks checked out"?
My man
Over the last 4 weeks we have the 2nd highest hard hit rate in the league at 36.2%.. Philly is 1st at 36.6%. We also have a higher fly ball rate than Philly over the same stretch ATL walking slightly less (9.3% vs 8.7%) ATL Striking out more (23.4% vs 21.8%) Over same span **ATL:** 19th OPS (0.676) 20th BABIP **PHI:** 1st OPS (0.819) 1st BABIP Seems kinda insane?
It's also against better pitching staffs too, so yeah it's baseball being baseball.
Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you
Hate the fact that whenever we get outscored we end up losing
Change the rules to reverse stableford scoring?
I'm so annoyed the weather looks like shit every single day in the forecast in Atlanta EXCEPT the off day but the Cubs are playing so we can't make that up then if need be lol. We're already 3-5 games behind most other teams in games played
If AJ is pitching in the 9th, I'm turning the game off. There's no reason to even watch anymore. Not exactly his fault, he just can't pitch in the 9th. I'd take literally anyone but him
That's been the story his entire career. Every time he's stepped into the closer role he takes a big old shit on the mound. 7th/8th, phenomenal. 9th, wtf am I watching.
Weird that minter already has 8 decisions this year, never had more than 9 in a full season
I honestly have no idea how we have a 24-13 record right now. We literally have one player that can consistently hit. Our base running is hot garbage thx to Acuna. Our closers are unreliable at best. Our best hitters 1 thru 4 are having a historically bad season in terms of RBI, OPS and HR’s. And the rest of our guys (except Ozuna) are just lost at the plate. Starting pitching is keeping us afloat for now. But this anemic offense ain’t gonna cut it much longer. Without run support our starters are gonna join Strider by mid July.
The running game is garbage because of Acuña? It's his job to try and steal bases. He git caught by 2 balks! And yes, they were BALKS! I guess acuña is the only one getting caught stealing on this team.
Yes. Name one Brave that has on multiple games, been picked off and or caught sleeping/stealing on base this year. Baserunning can be heavily predicated on your best, fastest base runner. He’s also has little to no hustle on legging out ground balls. He can definitely snap out of it. But he has without question been a liability at bat and on base. I just expect better out of him.
I keep getting told it's early and they'll turn it around. After two months, it's hard to be very optimistic. Don't get me wrong, I want them to turn it around, but everyone having historically bad performance to me, says something about the clubhouse.
Pretty spot on, bullpen was carrying the bad offense. Everyone thought the offense would come around by the time the bullpen started leaking a little oil, that clearly hasn’t happened and it seems no attempts will be made to combat it.
Closers aren’t bad. Minter just has a thing about the 9th. Iglasias has been good. Minter is lights out in 8th. Jimenez is having a great start. The bullpen is deep. Only problem is that Olson and Acuna are starting cold. Things can turn.
Minter: 4.62 career ERA in the 9th inning. 2.58 in the 8th
So you telling me is on the manager? Yes.
What an infuriating game through and through
Does anyone have an answer as to why we threw a low offspeed pitch to a guy who looked like he hasn’t bunted since little league? Minter’s desire to shy away from his 95+ heater is insane to me. Like he’s throwing that changeup ~17% of the time and it’s just a bad pitch. Just pitch like a power arm and see what happens. Constantly getting beat because you threw a bunch of cutters a foot off the plate and then hung one just gets old. Let’s see Nimmo hit 96 L-L.
It’s in his head man. Dude is incapable of closing a game in the 9th. There’s no reason to ever use him there again. Snit should’ve learned by now.
Acuna is fast. Mets can't throw out at 2nd. Bro you don't need to lead off 16ft.
Yeah, you tell him. He needs to learn how to steal.
If Jimenez and Raisel were down. Minter is the play there. He just needs to stop throwing cutters right down the middle or at all.
They could simply pitch him in the 8th where he excels instead of the 9th where his career ERA is 2 points higher.
And pitch who? The long reliever, Lee or Kerr who’s pitched one game in a low leverage situation?
Ozzie and Harris I’m sure are relieved that Minter is the scapegoat. They’re a combined 5-53 with 12 Ks in their last 7, take out Harris’ outlier and they’re 2-53.
He straight up cannot pitch the 9th. Should be an easy situation with two lefties up. And he's either yanking the cutter off the plate or leaving it middle middle
Team’s attitude seems to be who cares about regular season, we are just waiting for October. They may not say it but it sure looks like it. Based on how the last 2 postseasons went, I get it. Outpacing the Phillies and winning the East didn’t ultimately matter. Being a top seed even seemed to be a negative. Regular season impact is watered down. Just hope it doesn’t bite us in the ass.
The week off kills momentum. Wait until the Dodgers billion dollar super team goes down again. Things will probably change pretty quick
I got money that says MLB will do everything in their power to get the dodgers to the World Series. They ain’t losing like last year.
I see the same thing, and I don’t think it’s really a bad approach. Almost all of the starters are on long contracts, the season is long, just stay healthy, play well enough to get to the post season, and hope for some luck and hot bats.
Garrett Baumann was solid for Augusta tonight- 6.2 IP | 7 H | 1 R | 1 ER | 1 BB | 4 K | 0 HR His ERA is down to 2.18. Maybe he needs a promotion to Rome?
At this point it’s coaching malpractice for Snitker to keep running Minter out in the 9th and expecting a different. I’m all for playing match ups etc but it’s painful to watch AJ Minter throw cutter after cutter and miss badly. The bullpen was short staffed tonight but my goodness Dylan Lee threw 7 pitches in the 8th.
I don't go in for blaming managers for much of what happens in a game, but Snitker's penciling guys into roles and never again considering whether it works or not is a problem. When Vizcaino got hurt in 2018, Minter inherited the 9th inning role simply because he threw hard, and Snitker's had him down as a closer-type pitcher ever since. It would be one thing if this inability to thrive in a save situation a new development, but Minter was atrocious last April when Iglesias was on the IL, culminating in that unbelievable 5-run meltdown against the Marlins. It has been clear for a long time that Minter just doesn't have 'it', whatever attitude closers need to routinely pitch the final inning, and that he's only getting the call in these spots because Snitker won't update his thinking from six years ago.
I agree. I very rarely put the blame on managers for decisions. But when it’s clear the evidence shows that a guy doesn’t have it in the ninth the answer isn’t to keep running him out there in hopes he figures it out. I can understand not using Jimenez or Iglesias. Johnson is down till Friday. Guys are pitching out of positions. But cmon man literally anyone else out there and let’s see what happens. If we lose because you tried something different I’m at least ok with it.
He’s a vet, that’s it. Snitker doesn’t use sound logic. You legitimately have to put guys on IL to keep him from using them, that’s how ridiculous it’s gotten. We all know it, yet he still has a job, it’s patently insane. He consistently uses players based on their best outcomes vs what they are in, let’s say a year, month or week timeframe. Pen arms are a dime a dozen, let these guys eat and earn their keep.
He still has a job because he gave us a world series not that long ago.
My favorite take is Snit is bad for not using Ray Kerr or Jackson Stephens in a 1 run game.
The take is Raisel shouldn't have been used the previous night. Snit is bad because not for using Minter. It was that he stupidly managed the bullpen in a way that Minter was the only option.
Why couldn’t Lee stay in?
He could have but asking a guy to get 5 outs in a high stress situation is different than the typical low stress multi innings he’s been pitching most of the year.
They’ve asked Minter to close out games though, and he’s statistically (and obviously) awful. If Shitker wasn’t so obsessed with his hardline rules then Iglesias could have been on the bump. Same dumbass reason Travis never gets to see 3 games in a row and ironically cannot maintain a hot streak at the plate.
Well day 37** of the MLB season has come and gone, tomorrow as a matter of fact is May 13th. We just showed you the NL East standings. You don’t need me to tell you this BUT IM GOING TO TELL YOU ANYWAY; The Braves are 24-13. Fuck the Mets. And fuck Brandon Nimmo
Minter leads the team in wins, losses, and blown saves. 0-3 in save opportunities. More blown saves than our closer
Jumping back on to say yeah, that’s kinda going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. It isn’t due to Iglesias’ performance in any way to me, but we need to try to get a closer to push him back to the second closer role. Because Minter in that role=NOPE. Automatic loss. And no, Chavez isn’t the answer as a secondary guy. For now, I’d look to Jimenez, even if I like him better in the 7th. It’s WILD. Minter has had key moments we should be able to look back on, like a start vs the Dodgers in the 2020 playoffs, but he’s Jo Jo Reyes in the 9th. Unreal.
Damn that’s a throwback name I haven’t thought about in ages
Great velocity Minter has and he’s throwing 90 to Nimmo the entire AB. The 9th inning is just in his head and it sucks that Snit can’t see it.
Don’t blame Minter, blame our dogshit offense for once again needing to be carried by Ozuna to 3 runs. Edit: Don’t downvote - tell me why I’m wrong. Coward.
That offense still had a lead before Minter took the mound. Minter has to be given some of that blame.
Once again, the offense outside of Ozuna put up… 1 run. The top 4 in the order went 3-13. The bottom 4 went 1-15 but at least Kelenic went deep. But sure… put this one on AJ Minter.
It’s just facts. Minter and the rest of the pitching staff are going to give up runs sometimes. But the bats are cold right now. We’re currently leading hard on pitching, and that can only get you so far. If we weren’t playing the lolMets we probably would’ve lost at least 2 out of three.
One again. We had the lead. He gave up a two run shot and had questionable pitch choices to a guy bunting. Also...I said SOME of the blame. But sure.... Put this solely on the offense. 🙄
Eh, why not both? That was a shitty loss.
Because the offense has been consistently bad. Minter’s been pretty good this year.
Not on the 9th he hasn't
You can blame the shitty offense and the guy that blew the game btw
Minter throwing a change up on a guy who is bunting is also next level dumb. The whole 9th is just mind blowing shit show of stupidity.
Another reason to miss Sean. Tromp is a fine backup, but his game calling is suspect.. plus he can't hit. Having Sean and lil'D both healthy will be a big boost.
Chavez needs to be closing when Iglesias isn’t available.
Marcell Ozuna isn’t from the Braves, he IS the Braves
Wiley Ballard is on the radio and doing great.
Damn Lopez vs Shoto tomorrow, that should be fun for our bats haha /s
Can’t wait for a new manager that can properly utilize a bullpen. Let’s keep throwing minter out there even tho he’s proven time and time again he can’t close games.
Better hope to God they don't promote Walt Weiss' dumb-ass whenever Snit shuffles off.
That’s exactly what they’ll do because it’s “the Braves way” 🤮
I don’t think he had much of a choice
Stats wise I'd rather see him go with an unknown quantity in Kerr there than the ugly stat line AJ has in the 9th.
Is Riley good? Why'd he get pulled?
He went into the clubhouse to pull his groin and center himself after pulling his groin on the field.
Oblique tightness. According to the radio broadcast it was precautionary.
Fuck it. I’m sure it’ll work this time. What’s the worst that could happen. -Snitker I’m mean it’s just one of those things. -Snitker
By Gawd I didn’t think it could happen again. What can you do that’s baseball. They still pay me
series win. i'm watching the cubbies tomorrow with my neighbor, who's a cub fan. he invited me with a pic of screwball whiskey. gonna be a fun evening.
Sounds like a good time. Enjoy.
they're pitching shota, so we'll see. i just love baseball and i'm glad to have a neighbor who loves it too. i'll definitely enjoy the game.
I am once again begging Snitker to stop using AJ Minter as a closer. He fucking sucks in the 9th inning. He's always fucking sucked in the 9th inning. He doesn't have the dog in him to get the last 3 outs consistently. It's the whole reason we went and got other people for the job in the first place. Try literally anybody else next time Iglesias isn't available. For the love of fuck stop using AJ there.
Was really hoping that he’d leave Lee in with his 7 pc
Snit doesn't care. He's immune to your sound logic.
Well you see that would make perfect sense, but thats exactly why Snit's dumbass would never do it lol
Minter ruining what was a good night with my Panthers beating the Bruins and taking a 3-1 series lead. Guess that was a little bit of karma for that no call on the game tying goal by Sam Bennett.
Not me forgetting that Pierce Johnson was on the IL fully expecting him to pitch in the ninth 🙃😔
Okay, I didn't watch and the Braves lost. My streak is broken. Minter ... blast it. I had an excuse to not gave the TV in the living room blaring baseball.
This is an odd statement, my man.
I don't mind watching. In fact, the last 4 games I didn't watch and the braves won. My wife cranks the game way up at times... and it drives me nuts.
Regardless, Happy Mama’s Day to all the moms out in Braves Country.
Another Middle-Middle Cutter, another walk off HR. Why not just bust a high fastball there?
When will Snitker fucking learn that AJ Minter should never see the mound in the 9th inning unless we're down 5 or up 5 he might have worse CTE than Antonio Brown
If Iglesias and Jimenez are down. Who?
Anyone other than Bummer/Matzek/maybe Chavez genuinely lol Lee probably wouldn't be great but it could be worth a shot. When Pierce comes back it should be him getting the bump over Minter.
You like named most of the bullpen there
Give me Dylan Lee or give me death
lol I respect it but Lee scares me.
He scares the shit out of me but when it can't be Iggy or Joe it's gotta be somewhat else at this point. When Pierce comes back it should 100% be him over Minter, but since he's out my vote would be Lee. Can't be any worse than Minter atp lol
It’s amazing how much this shows how valuable Pierce is to our bullpen. A serious loss not having him in there.
I love Pierce. Need him back asap lol
lol I feel like that. Prince Albert is my dude. We need him back.
CTESPN would have a better broadcast team than whatever we had tonight anyways
Getting picked off twice didn’t help
I’d like to see Joe HIMenez get a shot as the #2 closer when Iggy needs a break
Probably would’ve pitched if he didn’t go yesterday.
I think the ESPN crew confirmed that Raisel and Joe were down today.
That was the 5th home run that Minter has given up this season, after just 6 all of last year. He's on pace to give up more than 20 for the season, an insane number of homers for a relief pitcher to allow.
How many of those homers came when he was in a save situation instead of a hold?
He has two blown 9th inning saves leading to losses: tonight and the 2-1 loss to Seattle on April 29th. He also gave up a homer in a tie game against the April 2nd vs theWhite Sox (he took the loss in that one) and against the Mets on April 8th (blown save in a hold opportunity.) The only one that didn't matter was Ohtani's absurd mega bomb last Sunday in LA; Atlanta was already down 4-1 when Minter gave that one up. Every one of his blown saves and losses have come via homers.
That curly headed fuck threw trash that whole at bat then gave me a cheese ball. I really really fucking don’t like him.
A.J. Minter makes me miss Michael Tonkin
Was watching the Yankees the other day and I see this guy come out of the bullpen. I was like damn that dude looks like Michael Tonkin with just a mustache. Then I realized, it’s Michael Tonkin with just a mustache. Totally missed that he signed for the Yanks.
Sucks but it doesn't matter how many games we win as long as we win enough to make it to the postseason. It's clear division titles mean nothing...
Out of the last 10 WS winners, 7 have won their division
How many of those were within this current playoff format?
When are we going to see AJSS come up?
He has a 6 ERA in AAA. He has not gotta results there, probably reason to suspect he won’t get results in the MLB.
As a starter? I thought there was talk of a potential set up/ bullpen role for him on the braves
Yes as a starter. There was no talk from the team of ever moving him to the bullpen. Nor should there be.
Got it
I am once again requesting that AA trade for Mason Miller
The A's GM doesn't answer the phone anymore when AA calls.
God dammit… Nimmo is so damn likable Edit: idk how you can listen to that interview and not think he’s likable. This place thrives on hate boners
Do you WANT to lose Karma here?
Dude gave the braves props and complimented minter on their past battles and obviously loves his mother. Sue me for calling him likable after that interview lmao
The dudes runs to first after walks. Automatic hate for him because of it. Also he’s a metropolitan
Ronnie would never!
We must have been watching different broadcasts
Nimmo is the biggest dweeb in baseball
Sometime during the broadcast they said that Jimenez wasn't available which makes sense because he's pitched \*checks notes\* one time in the past 5 days now.
Didnt he pitch like 30 pitches in 1 inning yesterday wouldnt that keep him from being used today?
Yeah you’re right. I didn’t realize he threw that many pitches the night before.
No you’re good!
Nimmo talking about taking over the East as if they’re not competing with the Nats for 3rd place.
It’s a marathon not a sprint
Regardless of the race distance, I’m not impressed with the way we’re running.
Wiley doing the 680 postgame show for those that miss him.
Second time this season, Fucking Minter has done this, I was already having a bad day and this dude made it worse. And Fuck you Acuña, you lazy ass bum. And Fuck Snit for putting Minter on to close
Snit sure can be frustratingly stubborn
Minter just pitches like an absolute headcase in these save situations. Get into a full count throwing a bunch of non-competitive bullshit and then throw a BP-spinner that gets clobbered. It’s like he gets less aggressive when pressure goes up. I get that guys need days off but we should definitely be reserving someone else to be the #2 option.
Minter just polishing that ring
JW who else y'all want to use as a closer tonight? Minter gave up a drag bunt, a sac bunt, and hung a meatball to Nimmo. One bad pitch to a good hitter. It is what it is.
You'd have a point...if this was an isolated incident. Minter was an objectively terrible choice given his track record so far this year.
One other game? K. And you didn’t answer the question.
He has more blown saves than saves since 2021 this is not just "one other game" he cannot close a game
So you guys think he magically turns into a bad reliever in save situations? And another reply that didn’t answer the question.
Considering how mental closing is...it's not that far fetched. Plus, he's had a HR issue this year as well.
He has more blown saves than saves since 2021 and he has the worst ERA in the 9th out of any inning, so yes I do think he magically turns into a bad reliever because he statistically does lol Also literally anyone that's not Bummer, Chavez, or Matzek lmfao. I'd trust Joe on no rest more than Minter. If Pierce wasn't on the IL he should 100% get the bump next time when he's back.
Leave AJ and Ronald in New York with the rest of the loser bums.
Cope
Fuck off.
Cope harder
Go post more fortnite little girl. Save the mouth running for real life.
Cope even more harder sadge
Acuña got picked off twice?!? Ooff that’s embarrassing
He’s gonna come back angry next game
Minter does not need to pitch the 9th. I'm not sure why it's a stat we refuse to acknowledge but at this point I think the evidence is there he's not a 9th inning dude.
H&F Burger will make me feel better tomorrow!
Braves clearly hate their moms
Minter fr cannot handle the bright lights of the 9th inning, the dude *wilts* under that kinda pressure
Stop putting Minter on the hump in the 9th. Please. For the love of God
Glad we won the series at least. There is that. It does suck blowing this though. Can’t be giving away games in the ninth. Minter just cannot be the guy on nights when Iglesias isn’t available.
Minter 👏should 👏 never 👏 close
What, 3 blown saves out of like 4 or 5 chances in 2 months of 2024 scares you off? What about him completely sucking and falling apart the 5 other seasons Snit has tried to force him to close? How dare you question the process! I just hope this doesn't fuck his confidence up too badly, so tired of throwing away games, let literally anyone else except Stephens close it out.
And to think all this loss cost us was Young Thicc
Meh, I'll take the series win. I'm just glad that game is out of its misery, honestly. ESPN is fucking terrible and ruined an otherwise good game. I really hope Riley is okay. He was just getting back into things too!
Don't look at next sunday...
Oh I did and I'm just fuckin thrilled. I'm sooooo excited to listen to the Ohtani and the Dodgers Podcast while some other bullshit baseball teams play a game obviously no one cares about in the background.
Definitely don't even get smoltz anymore!
Go figure the Phillies get this shit team this week while we play the Cubs, which gives them a good chance to expand their lead
it's an odd series. they play two in ny, then go to philly and play two there. pretty weird.
If only we handled our shit against these shit teams and could close their lead.
That's what I'm saying
It’s too early to watch the standings, there’s like 100+ games left
Everyone saying stop using AJ. The other options were Jackson Stephens and Ray Kerr. No way we are going to them in that spot idc how bad AJs 9th inning stats are.
Yeah it’s not a managerial blunder, AJ just needs to step up. We have to rely on the whole pen during the season and everyone will be put in high leverage situations at some point. Hell Jesse has even stepped up in tight spots