Snitker 3rd in NL Manager of the Year voting
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ATLANTA -- Brian Snitker guided the Braves to a second straight 100-win season despite navigating most of the year without two of his top starters. But his effort wasn’t enough to land his second National League Manager of the Year Award.
The Marlins’ Skip Schumaker was named the 2023 NL Manager of the Year on Tuesday night. Craig Counsell, who recently moved from the Brewers to the Cubs, finished second and Snitker was third in the balloting of select members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Snitker and Schumaker each received eight first-place votes. But while Miami’s skipper also received eight second-place votes and eight third-place votes, Snitker received just four other votes, two second-place votes and two third-place votes. Six of the 15 NL managers earned at least one first-place vote.
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When Snitker was named Manager of the Year in 2018, he joined Bobby Cox as the only Braves skippers to ever win the award. Snitker has guided the Braves to six straight NL East crowns, a World Series title and back-to-back 100-win seasons. But Cox remains the only manager in franchise history to be named MOY multiple times.
Snitker had a strong case this year.
Max Fried (2022 NL Cy Young Award runner-up) and Kyle Wright (20-game winner in ’22) combined for just 21 starts in 2023 because of injuries. Yet the Braves won 104 games and sat in first place in the division at the end of every day beyond April 2. Closer Raisel Iglesias, veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud and 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II also missed all or most of April.
Snitker’s even-keeled approach helped the Braves persevere. An incredible offense matched an MLB single-season home run record and produced a .501 slugging percentage. The offense took off in the middle of June, when Snitker moved Matt Olson from the second spot to the middle of the lineup. Olson hit .324 with 36 homers, 94 RBIs and a 1.113 OPS in the 94 games played after the switch was made on June 15. The Braves scored 592 runs during this span, and the Dodgers ranked second with 530 runs.