Snitker finishes 3rd in NL Manager of Year voting
This browser does not support the video element.
ATLANTA -- Brian Snitker guided the Braves to one of the most satisfying division titles in club history. But he will have to wait before possibly joining his mentor, Bobby Cox, as the only skippers in franchise history to win multiple Manager of the Year Awards.
The Mets’ Buck Showalter was named the National League’s Manager of the Year on Tuesday night. Snitker finished third with 55 points in the balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Snitker received seven first-place votes, but Showalter and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had eight first-place votes.
Though every year presents different challenges, this past season may have been the most challenging for Snitker. The Braves were 10 1/2 games back in the NL East race entering June and remained seven games behind the front-running Mets on Aug. 10.
“I don’t think there was a concern because we were down,” Snitker said to MLB Network. “We worked really hard to set that bar high. We were not playing smart baseball.”
But Snitker’s steady hand kept the ship afloat and his team rewarded him with an incredible run over the season’s final four months. It helped that the Braves added two pieces to help them get over the hump.
“It took us a while to get traction and get our feet on the ground,” Snitker said. “It didn’t hurt to have the National League Rookie of the Year [center fielder Michael Harris II] on our [team], and the runner-up [right-hander Spencer Strider] to the National League Rookie of the Year. When we started him, it solidified our rotation and we started playing the way we are capable of playing.”
This browser does not support the video element.
As a finalist for the 2022 NL Manager of the Year Award, Snitker credited the entire Braves organization for winning the division title.
“The whole building is responsible for me to be able to talk you guys,” Snitker said before the award was announced on MLB Network.
• Manager of the Year Award, all-time winners
The Braves went an MLB-best 78-34 from June 1 through the end of the season. That equates to a 112-win pace over 162 games. With this torrid run the Braves caught the Mets.
This browser does not support the video element.
Showalter guided the Mets to 101 wins while benefiting from the game’s top payroll. The Braves spent about $80 million less than the Mets this past year, but still proved to be the better team at the end.
Atlanta lost four of five to New York in early August. But the Braves stayed the course and ended up claiming a three-game sweep of the Mets during the regular season’s final weekend.
Bill Ladson contributed to this report.