On Brian Snitker, Ronald Acuña Jr., Jarred Kelenic and what gets noticed

Yep, we gotta talk about it.

Alright, we gotta talk about this.

At first, I didn’t really want to dedicate a whole entire post to this mini-controversy because as I’ve halfway joked about in past articles, this is a Serious Baseball Website for Serious Baseball Fans of the Atlanta Braves and it just felt kind of lame to write an entire article based off of a tweet that ended up getting deleted shortly afterwards. I was willing to let it go and simply let it be the Topic of the Day for social media to discuss in that calm and measured manner that social media is very famous for. Plus, it was Easter and I was busy chopping it up with my family so I definitely didn’t want to focus my energy on something like this.

However, Brian Snitker’s postgame comments changed things and now we’ve got to talk about it, because his explanation behind his decision-making doesn’t pass the smell test. To finally explain what’s going on, Jarred Kelenic hit a ball on Saturday night that he figured was a no-doubter home run. He admired it from the plate and instead only ended up with a single and getting thrown out at second after he tried to make it there once it was clear that the ball was still in play.

While we can definitely talk about how he’s not the only Braves player who has gotten duped by the ball into thinking that they crushed it only to end up with something way less than a home run, it’s still something you don’t want to see from Jarred Kelenic of all people — a guy who has been around for five seasons now and has only had a wRC+ above 100 in one of those seasons (and that was the only season where he came close to hitting that mark, mind you).

When Brian Snitker was initially asked about the incident, well, I’ll let Mark Bowman of MLB.com explain it:

That led to the now-deleted reply from Ronald Acuña Jr. that really got this thing kicked off. The Braves then proceeded to pick up the sweep against the Twins and then after the game, Snitker was asked again about Saturday night’s incident and here’s what his story was (via Mark Bowman) following Sunday’s game:

It initially seemed like Snitker was trying to protect Kelenic. But when speaking after Sunday’s game, he said he hadn’t even seen what Kelenic did coming out of the box. The outfielder drifted toward the first-base dugout while admiring the shot and was still on the dugout side of the first-base coach’s box when the ball hit off the wall.

“I don’t look for him to not [hustle], because he plays with his hair on fire all the time, and he’s laying out,” Snitker said. “I didn’t know it until I saw it this morning.”

I have a lot of respect for Brian Snitker but I’m just going to say it: That doesn’t pass the smell test. You mean to tell me that even if he personally didn’t see it, nobody else in the dugout or clubhouse brought it up? I’d imagine that if it was that bad of an incident, this would’ve been dealt with on Saturday night instead of bleeding into Sunday and now here on Monday as well. The media sure noticed it, otherwise it wouldn’t have come up in coversation after the game.

The media always notices this type of thing and baseball managers and coaches always notice this type of thing, which Ronald Acuña Jr. was quite happy to point out with the now-deleted tweet. Now let’s be clear here: Acuña has an extremely good point. This absolutely would’ve been a much-bigger deal had Acuña been the one loafing around on the basepaths and it’s probably a safe bet to assume that Snitker wouldn’t have tried to claim that he “didn’t see it” if Acuña ended up in the lineup the day after he got caught loafing around. Someone absolutely would’ve caught it and Acuña would’ve been used as an example for the next day. You don’t have to make any huge leaps in logic to make that assumption.

Despite the fact that his usual speed is 100-mph out there, any time he tones it down to 90-mph, it gets noticed. It’s been a running joke ever since that incident during the 2019 NLDS where people will jokingly accuse Acuña of not hustling right after he extends a double into a triple or steals multiple bases in one game or makes an incredible throw from the outfield. The fact of the matter is that Acuña hustles just as much (and probably moreso) than any given player in baseball but he also has that microscope on him where you know that it would be impossible for the manager to miss it if that was Acuña in that spot.

While that might be because of the fact that he’s a superstar and everything a superstar does gets noticed, it also goes back to the same conversation that always comes up any time this happens to Black players and other players of color in this same situation. As much as people would like to imagine themselves being colorblind in a situation like this, you also don’t have to make any huge leaps in logic in this situation as well. The microscope isn’t just on Acuña but it’s on plenty of other players who look like Acuña. That’s just a fact of life (both in the baseball world and the real world) and to not acknowledge it would be an exercise in delusion.

Whatever the case may be, Acuña was right to make that point. While you can definitely argue that this was a situation that should’ve been handled behind closed doors without the current media scrutiny that’s going on, he’s still correct. I don’t blame Acuña one bit for feeling the way that he feels and even though he deleted it, his opinion in this situation is one hundred percent valid. He’s the face of the franchise and a bonafide superstar in this sport, he should be allowed to drop his two cents in on a situation like this — especially when it’s something that he’s had to deal with (mostly unfairly) for years now.

While I also commend Jarred Kelenic for reportedly eventually going into Brian Snitker’s office and admitting that he should’ve hustled harder out there, it should’n’t have taken this turning into a mini-scandal for the meeting to eventually happen. Again, Kelenic is in a position where he’s trying to make sure that he can get a lot of playing time once the Braves get their full compliment of outfielders back — combine that with his track record of production and he is in no position to be giving anything but maximum effort while he’s out there. As Snitker mentioned, usually he does — this is a guy who missed some time after he hurt himself diving for a catch. These guys all know how to hustle, no matter what they look like!

Instead, the blame for this entire situation can be placed squarely at the feet of Brian Snitker. While he’s usually done a great job of handling the clubhouse and making sure that the club culture as a whole is usually positive, this is a rare misstep. While it certainly didn’t stop the Braves from sweeping the Twins (and I’d imagine that it’s not going to impede them as they continue to dig themselves out of this early-season hole that they’re currently in), the fact of the matter is that Snitker should’ve done a much better job at handling this particular situation. The same assumption that Jarred Kelenic “always plays with his hair on fire” should be given to Acuña, who routinely shows just as much passion and intensity on the field.

Now, I’m not saying that Brian Snitker should’ve benched Jarred Kelenic because of his lack of hustle, just like Acuña shouldn’t be benched for such a thing (for multiple reasons including “He’s the best player on the team and he helps them way more out on the field instead of on the bench”). I’d much rather prefer to see situations like this dealt with a strong and firm conversation instead of shooting yourself in the foot by putting a bench player out there. What I am saying is that this could’ve been dealt with a whole lot better than it actually was. The buck stops with the manager in this type of situation and a great sign of leadership is admitting when you’re wrong.

While this is probably just going to blow over and turn into one of those usual speed bumps that pop up on the long road that is baseball’s regular season, I’m hoping that this becomes something that everybody can learn from. All players deserve the same level of respect and consideration for their on-field effort (no matter what they look like and unless it’s egregious and chronic) and somethings are just better left being dealt with behind closed doors. Otherwise, random bloggers on the internet will have to eventually talk about it.