The Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves split their doubleheader on Thursday. The Braves piled on for a 9-3 win in the nightcap, despite the Phillies sending ace Zack Wheeler to the mound. But it was comments from Braves manager Brian Snitker after the Phillies' tight win in the matinée that raised eyebrows around Philadelphia.
The Phillies rode backup catcher Rafael Marchán to a 5-4 win in Game 1 of the twin-bill, per MLB.com's Paul Casella. Marchán had himself a game with a two-run home run, and a hit-by-pitch that brought in the winning run. Not to mention his two darts to catch would-be base stealers, including a clutch throw in the top of the ninth to nab Ozzie Albies.
Braves skipper Brian Snitker put out strong 'sore loser' vibes after losing series to Phillies
Following the loss, as the teams prepared for Game 2, Snitker came down with a severely embarrassing case of foot-in-mouth disease. And boy, did he jam it right in there.
According to The Athletic's David O'Brien, Snitker, in quite possibly one of the worst takes of the year, said that the Braves "should have been able to steal off Marchán, who doesn't get throws to bases quickly."
What game was Snitker watching? Hopefully he's okay after likely having to call the medical staff to remove his lower extremity from his face.
Aside from the eye test, Statcast tells us that Marchán ranks among the best behind the plate at gunning runners down. Among catchers with a minimum of 10 attempts to second base, he ranks fourth with a 1.89 second pop time — for reference, J.T. Realmuto is tied for first with a 1.87 second pop time.
As much as Snitker wants to bury his head in the sand and make lame excuses, his Braves team just got beat by a catcher with only 53 games of MLB experience under his belt. Despite his relative inexperience in the majors, Marchán has shown time and time again that he has an elite control over the running game.
He has one of the strongest arms behind the dish, with the fourth-highest average throwing speed of 87 mph. Plus, his exchange time is elite, with his 0.59 seconds tied for second in the majors. He did the same thing last year in his limited 17-game run.
Heading into Thursday's doubleheader, Marchán hadn't done much at the plate in 12 games. He was hitting just .129 with a .339 OPS. Thursday's home run was his first of the season, and he raised his RBI total from two to five. He now has a .152 batting average and a .559 OPS, so has a ways to go to get those up to respectable ratios, but if he stays solid defensively, he'll keep getting chances.
While it's not likely, based on his delusional comments, Snitker will possibly think twice about running on Marchán the next time the 26-year-old is backstopping the Phillies against the rival Braves.