Brian Snitker Boosts Braves But Seeks New Ways To Stay Playoff-Ready

Joining a perennial pennant contender will work wonders for Jarred Kelenik, according to Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker.

“It will be good for me to get into our group,” said Snitker during a media conference at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville. “I haven’t seen him play but I know how talented he is from people I’ve talked to about him. And he’s still just 24.”

Once considered one of baseball’s top prospects, Kelenik was the cornerstone of a five-man trade between the Braves and Seattle Mariners earlier this week. He’s expected to become Atlanta’s regular left-fielder, perhaps in a platoon with right-handed hitter Vaughn Grissom, who hit .330 at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Grissom, a former middle infielder, has volunteered to learn left field in the Puerto Rican Winter League, which opens its season in a few days.

“I love our team,” Snitker said of the club that led the majors with 104 wins and a record-tying 307 home runs, “but you can always make changes that will benefit the ballclub.”

So far, those changes have included adding Kelenik, converting Grissom, signing hard-throwing Reynaldo Lopez, and acquiring lefty reliever Aaron Bummer from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for five young players.

There will also be changes on the coaching lines, where Ron Washington left to manage the Los Angeles Angels and took Eric Young, Sr. with him.

Snitker said the organization has not yet decided how to replace them, though former coaches Terry Pendleton and Eddie Perez are still with the organization.

The oldest manager in the National League at 68, Snitker has the best recent record of success, winning six straight division titles and a world championship since 2018. No other team has won that many titles in a row.

“I have to find a better way to keep these guys prepared,” he said in answer to a question about why the powerful Braves stopped hitting just in time to lose their second straight Division Series to the wild-card Philadelphia Phillies.

“Last year we did the best we couldbut that adrenalin is hard to ramp up.” By posting the best record, the Braves received a bye: five days off while most of the other playoff teams engaged in the Wild Card Series. Perhaps they got stale or perhaps Philadelphia’s relief corps proved too potent.

“They did a great job,” Snitker said of the Phils. “Runs are always hard to come by in the playoffs.”

Atlanta spent most of the current off-season bolstering its own bullpen, trading for Bummer, activating injured left-hander Tyler Matzek, and re-signing free agents Pierce Johnson and Joe Jimenez, among other things. Lopez could wind up in the pen too – especially if the team trades incumbent closer Raisel Iglesias in a cost-cutting move.

“I love the arms we have,” Snitker said of his relief corps. “Jimenez is having a normal six-month off-season and Matzek can’t wait to come back (after Tommy John elbow surgery). He hung around with his teammates all last season even though he couldn’t pitch.”

The manager also expects better things from starter Bryce Elder, who made the All-Star team but faded badly during the second half, and Charlie Morton, who celebrated his 40th birthday but decided to accept a $20 million club option for a farewell season.

“Not having Charlie would be a lot scarier,” Snitker said of the veteran, who not only won 14 games but served as a clubhouse mentor for the young staff.

Both Morton and left-handed ace Max Fried could be entering their final seasons in Atlanta. The former is expected to retire, while the latter is a post-2024 free agent who might return to his Southern California roots.

For the rest of the winter meetings, the Braves will be looking to beef up their rotation, according to Atlanta president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, but won’t trade any of the young stars – from Ronald Acuña, Jr. to Spencer Strider – who are signed to long-term contracts.

Acuña was the unanimous choice of the baseball writers for Most Valuable Player in the National League after hitting 41 home runs and stealing a club-record 73 bases. He was the first player ever to produce a 40-70 season.

In closing, the affable Atlanta pilot praised Jim Leyland, the lone man picked for the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Eras Committee vote of non-players whose main contribution came after 1980.

“I texted him right after I heard,” Snitker said of Leyland, who also became a major-league manager without being a player first. “He’s been through everything I experienced so I’m really happy he’s being recognized.”