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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS VS BRAVES

October 6, 2019

Brian Snitker

St. Louis, Missouri - pregame 3

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Brian Snitker.

Q. I know you answered some questions about Adam Wainwright yesterday, but wanted to throw one more at you. It's 2019, can you think back to when you guys were together all those years ago that you would now be managing against him in the biggest game of your life and he's pitching against you?
BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, I didn't think about that then, obviously. But that was a long time ago. I'm happy for both of us.

Q. Once the game begins, it's a game. But like how amazing is it that you're managing this team and he's still at it, pitching?
BRIAN SNITKER: It's probably more amazing that I'm managing this team than he's still at it, quite honestly. (Laughter).

No, like I say, it's a good feeling. Kind of says a lot I guess about both of us, our staying power, how we've hung around that long. I think I've been through a lot. He's obviously been through a lot. I'm glad we're having the opportunity to share this stage.

Q. Mike Soroka and the Cardinals' Dakota Hudson, sinker/slider guys. It seems it's kind of in vogue with some teams, the high four-seamers and breaking balls. How valuable are those guys who get the ground balls and work efficiently in the zone?
BRIAN SNITKER: Especially in today's game, when guys are all about launch angle and all that, I think it's good to get a throw-back guy that works under, the bottom of the zone instead of at the top. And he's had a lot of success doing that this year. It's his game.

I think he understands who he is as a pitcher. That's a big thing, I think, with a lot of young guys is they're still trying to identify who they are and what they are. And I think he gets what he has and who he is.

Q. Are you still thinking that you won't determine your Game 4 starter until after this one?
BRIAN SNITKER: I think we're still going to have to see what we encounter today before we make that decision. Like I say, we've got some different ways we can go. We've talked about it. But I think today it's still going to determine, probably be the determining factor on how we do go.

Q. You've talked about your coaches, this coach or that coach along the way, but how big -- it's probably pretty obvious question -- but how big has this coaching staff been to your success in the last couple of years considering you've not managed and you've surrounded yourself with a lot of guys who have a lot of experiencein playing, coaching and managing?
BRIAN SNITKER: I think these guys have been very instrumental in what we've done here the last few years. And I say they're a rock star coaching staff, because you look and they're all baseball guys, seasoned baseball guys. They all bring instant credibility to the job.

We have managers on there. We have former All-Stars. Guys that have been coordinators and I think the biggest strength that they have is in today's analytical world is that they do a really good job of absorbing the information and getting it to the players. They know how much to give the players.

You can give them too much because there's so much out there. And I think they do a great job because I told Alex when I came in, it's like you do have a bunch of old dogs you're teaching new tricks here, me included.

But they've done a remarkable -- they all love to teach. They all love to work. They like to get in there with the players. And it's not like, I've said this many times, it's not like -- because I remember when I first started coaching in the Major Leagues -- when a guy got up here it's like, they should know that; they should know this.

It was hands-off and you expected to get a finished product. These guys aren't finished products anymore when they come to the Major Leagues. You've got to continue to teach and work because as an industry we're rushing them to the minor leagues so quick that they don't have an opportunity to learn to play the game. So the teaching doesn't stop here and these guys do an unbelievable job of that.

Q. And they've also been able to not be threatening to you when you've got these managers who are established, you're not looking over your shoulder?
BRIAN SNITKER: I'm not because I'm way too far into this thing to be worried about that. I know that as a manager you're expected to win. If I ran around and worried about that, I'd drive myself crazy. They've been exactly -- they've been just the opposite of that as far as just me leaning on them and asking advice.

And I've had to do that a little more this year because I lost my guy.

Q. (Indiscernible) T.P.
BRIAN SNITKER: Well, T.P. and Bobby. T.P. was a great help for me and still is. I still communicate with him a lot about things. And I spent the first years of this managerial stint with every evening Bobby coming in having coffee and us talking. And I think I've missed that this year.

Q. A follow up to Game 4 starter question. Yesterday you said that Dallas could pitch on short rest, that was one of the possibilities. Is that still a possibility and have you had conversations with him already on it?
BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, we did yesterday. And that's still -- he's all in and is available to do that, if we decide.

Q. Who won't pitch today or have zero opportunity?
BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know that there is other than Folty.

Q. Given the number of pitches he had the other day, where does Foltynewicz fit into the next two days or do you certainly --
BRIAN SNITKER: He'll go out and play catch today and run around and we'll communicate with him and see where he's at, physically and how he feels.

Q. And tomorrow?
BRIAN SNITKER: I think depending on the situation today that everybody could be part of tomorrow.

Q. Did you ever consider potentially bringing Soroka out of the bullpen to keep him fresh, kind of like the Nationals did with Scherzer for an inning between starts for the seven days?
BRIAN SNITKER: No, we had him tabbed for this starter for today and we were just going to stay with that. I think just what he went through this year, his first full year as a starter, we weren't going to do it to him.

Q. The postseason is a different beast. You're going to manage a game here in October different than you did in May. How does last year's experience prepare you for what you're going through this year?
BRIAN SNITKER: It helped going through it. It has to help. I think you talk about us as a team and -- with everybody. I think last year helped everybody to experience this because it is a different game. There's no two ways about it.

It's not like May or June where you're looking three or four days down the road and how you use your bullpen and things like that. With playing two and day off and such that, that everybody's in play most of the time, and the games have a greater sense of urgency about them.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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