The Atlanta Braves played some poor baseball for most of the summer. A team that has made the playoffs seven years in a row suddenly looked like it was stuck in the middle of a rebuild. But now, the Braves are on fire, riding a five-game winning streak. And while a playoff berth still seems like a longshot, it’s not entirely out of reach.
“It’s still a long shot, but suddenly the most stunning comeback we’ve seen in a long time becomes feasible. The Braves have been on the opposite end of this situation before. In 2011, they were eight and a half games ahead of the Cardinals at the start of September, and the Cardinals came back. While not an example fans want to remember, the precedent of a crazy comeback is out there to use as inspiration, even if it was at a team’s own expense almost 15 years ago,” SI’s Harrison Smajovits wrote.
Regardless of whether the Braves make the playoffs, this is likely to be manager Brian Snitker’s final season in Atlanta due to his expiring contract.
“Because of that consistent recent success, Snit would normally be afforded a ‘mulligan’ year—even though going from the second-best preseason World Series odds to possibly the third-best odds of winning the draft lottery is a pretty serious mulligan,” Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller wrote. “At 69, though, he’s already the oldest manager in the National League by a several-year margin and was likely to retire at the end of this season, which is the last one in his current contract.”
A potential replacement for Snitker could be longtime manager Bud Black.
“Fired earlier this year after his hapless Colorado Rockies couldn’t buy a win, this former pitcher still commands respect from both teammates and rivals,” Forbes’ Dan Schlossberg wrote.
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Black would be a strong candidate to replace Snitker. He’s a respected and experienced manager who simply didn’t have much talent to work with in Colorado. A well-built and competitive team like the Braves could benefit from that level of experience and leadership. Black could bring the kind of energy and stability back into the clubhouse that Atlanta has occasionally lacked this season.
