NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 19, 2021

Brian Snitker

Dodger Stadium

Atlanta Braves

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. Your team has struggled at Dodgers' stadium. Is there anything you can point to for that pattern?

BRIAN SNITKER: You know, gosh, no, not really. We lost three games here this year that we were in all three of them, we were a pitch away, a hit away. Since I've been managing we came in one year and I think maybe won three out of four, but since then we haven't been really good.

I don't know. I mean, they're really tough here. I know that. But I don't, it's just kind of been coincidence, I guess, how the games have went, but I really can't put my finger on any one thing because we did some really good things in that time, just couldn't finish a game off.

Q. You're up 2-0. You were up 2-0 a year ago. How different does this feel, though, going into Game 3 and having Charlie Morton on the mound when you're up 2-0?

BRIAN SNITKER: I think it's good and I think it's good that we experienced that last year. We were a young team trying to take the next step. We kind of took the next step last year.

I think the experience of what we went through and how important every game is will be good for these guys and they will remember that. I couldn't think of anybody else I would rather have on the mound right now for us today than Charlie.

Q. Are you still leaning towards a bullpen game tomorrow?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah. We'll just probably see, we'll evaluate after the day today to see how we're going to go about that.

Q. I think it's safe to say no one wants this more than Freddie, and it just seems like he's in his own way. Do you say anything to him, show him a clip from Game 4?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, not at all. That's the last thing I would want to do. We forget that he's two days away, two games away from getting us in this, putting us in this position, and these guys have been through this before. It's magnified now. They care. That's the biggest thing. These guys care, and they want to do good, and you have a tendency in this game to get in your on way a little bit. That's the hardest part of this business is just showing up the next day and fighting through things.

But we had a day off yesterday. He could clear his mind. I have every confidence that he's going to come out today and put everything behind him.

Q. Following that up, did you see at-bats where you just thought he was trying too hard or trying to overdo it at all?

BRIAN SNITKER: I don't know. I mean, I just kind of feel that that's the underlying thing is guys want to do -- I don't see, I don't watch an at-bat and feel that because you see it, I had to answer these same questions in April and first of May when things weren't going great and all of a sudden you look up and things have a way, you fight through them and things have a way on the other end of being okay and you get through it.

Q. I think most would do all they can to forget everything that happened in the last year's playoffs, but you seem to embrace it. Why is that?

BRIAN SNITKER: Because it was a good experience, I think, for these guys. They had never been on that stage and through that before and I think the fact that they did is going to serve them well in this playoff. I mean, we got a long way to go. Like I say, you're coming to a tough place here to win a game, but I just think that the experience that our guys had last year is going to be good for them.

Q. You've said as your guys have faced basically every great pitcher they have seen so far this postseason that they will be who they are at the plate, aggressive swing, all that. As far as Walker Buehler goes today, is there a way to put pressure on him with your, what your guys have and can do?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, I mean, they're looking at all the video. They get all the percentages. They get all the information. And I think the biggest thing that you have to do is stay with your plan individually. And, you know, it's rough. I mean, it's a rough ride with that kid because he's a really, really, he's an elite pitcher.

So it's one of things where it's like hopefully you don't miss your pitch. You're going to get a pitch to hit. Hopefully you don't miss it, I guess is the biggest thing in baseball.

Q. When Alex made those moves at the trade deadline and brought Rich Rod in and then the four outfielders, I think a lot of people were saying, four outfielders? Why you getting so many? What does it say about this, what he's learned over the years, that he knows the importance of depth because you lose Soler and you really are still hitting on all cylinders?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, no, he talks about it all the time, about just getting depth in your bullpen, depth on your bench when he went out and got all those guys. I mean, it's, it's hard. I talked with all of them. It's like somebody's not probably going to be real happy every day because you all, we got four major league outfielders, guys who can play every day, but you can't in our situation with no DH.

In talking to all those guys, everybody to a man was like, all right, I'll be ready for whatever you need me to do. They were kind of like all-in on just doing whatever they could to try and win games.

But I don't think you can ever have enough depth in your pitching, your bench, the position players. I know when he went out and got them it was just that in mind, that that guy that didn't play would be a valuable piece off the bench.

Q. Obviously last year, to your point, the learning experience came in the bubble with no fans. This year you're back in front of your own fans, especially. How much do you feed off that and how much does that contribute to a different experience this year?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, I think it's huge, just as witnessed by the first two games and even all year, how the fans are -- I think they are, they're a big part of that. They're a big part of the energy the players have, the excitement that the games bring, and I think it's been way more fun this year than obviously than last year just because of the fan experience.

I mean, we started in Milwaukee and that thing was deafening in there. So it's kind of bringing what this is all about, this time of year because the fans are here.

Q. How did you guys, are you adjusting to the whole experience at your ballpark and the Battery and everything that's evolved there over the last few years?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, it's good. Our new ballpark is a really good place to come to work. I mean, it's a great situation for our players. And, I mean, they all love being there. I know that. It's just a great place to come to work.

Q. Walker Buehler really showed a changeup against the Giants in his last start that he didn't really have for the early part of this year and definitely didn't have last year. How does that change your game plan against a guy like him who is already so tough and then he adds in a new pitch?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, well, I mean, like I say, that's just one of those things that they go back and take a look at the last two or three starts, when we scout up a guy, and they will have all the percentages that he threw it and when and they look at all the video. And a changeup, man, that's, I've only been around one guy that looked for changeups and hit them and he's a Hall of Famer. So it's a tough pitch. I think, again, as I say, hopefully you don't miss the one before that. So you have to, so that has to be a big factor, I think.

Q. Who was the guy?

BRIAN SNITKER: The third baseman. (Laughing).

Q. Curious, in sports there's a lot of athletes, coaches, managers who are superstitious about things. So when you come to a city or are going to play a team that you've struggled with, particularly on the road, do you change your routine at all, do you change the hotel, just curious if you did anything on that?

BRIAN SNITKER: No, I'm not responsible for the hotel, so I just stay wherever they put us. But not really, no. More so, I mean, for me personally, like when we go to different places, there are places I like to get to the ballpark and maybe go out and take a walk somewhere. But, no, I don't have anything that I would do here per se that would be any different than what I did before.