NL WILD CARD SERIES: BRAVES VS PADRES

October 2, 2024

Brian Snitker

Petco Park

Atlanta Braves

Postgame Press Conference

Padres - 5, Braves - 4

Q. This is not the way you wanted to finish, but what are you going to remember about this team?

BRIAN SNITKER: Just the tenacity, the drive, the consistency, the work ethic, how they never -- everything that these guys went through, nobody was ever, woe is me, and they weren't griping about anything.

They just kept playing. They kept playing. They kept working. The energy never waned. Their attitude's never waned.

I just talked to them, too. I'm about as proud of a team as I've ever had, quite honestly, with how they've handled everything.

Q. How much do you look at Fried having two outs in that inning and maybe if he gets one more strike on a few of those guys?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah, there were some miss-hit balls and some balls smoked, too. And I think that when he got hit on the hip, as the inning wore on, it affected him, which, to no fault of his own, because when he started out, I was like, oh boy, this is going to be pretty good here. I think the longer he was out there, the worse it got.

But, again, our bullpen did an unbelievable job, again, for the second night in a row. I'm so proud of those guys too and how they stepped up. And you know what, we got it within realistic numbers.

Q. What did you say to Max? He had that first inning escape, would have gone down in Braves lore.

BRIAN SNITKER: Like I told Walt, I said, I hope they're looking back at this missed opportunity because, yeah, like I say, his stuff was really good, really good. Like I say, the miss-hit balls were big, I think, in extending that inning. We were two out, nobody on, when that inning started.

Who knows? Maybe he comes back in, and not out there aggravating that thing anymore and we can get a couple more innings out of him.

First thing I asked George, is that something that can tighten up and hamper him later. He said absolutely.

Q. How about the way Michael Harris finished off this season?

BRIAN SNITKER: That's awesome, just stunning. Hopefully he continues to build out of that. The biggest thing I want to see out of Michael, I want to see him play 158 games or more because we see what he's capable of doing on both sides of the ball. And it's pretty special.

Q. With Max, was it the hip?

BRIAN SNITKER: Yeah. It was a pretty good shot. As I say, as the inning got prolonged, George said it affected the sciatica or something. And I think -- I'm not going to take away anything from the Padres. They squared some balls up really good and got big hits.

I'll tell you what that kid in center field is something. He already is something else. But that's just add another in their stable of really good players.

Q. This is three straight years that starting pitching at the end, injuries have hurt you. You did everything right with the schedule this year. How frustrating is that?

BRIAN SNITKER: Now it is. Not an excuse. It is what it is. Like I said before, everybody goes through stuff getting here. It's hard to navigate seven months for every team, all 30 of us.

And it just shows you can do everything right and not -- it's part of why we keep coming back in this game, in this business.

And that's why it's so hard to win a World Series. It's hard to get to the playoffs. It's hard to win a division. So it's just a lot of things have got to go right. You've got a lot of depth in the organization.

Like you said, we did everything right with these guys. You just never know and you could have a little more adversity.

Q. I know it's disappointing, but we've talked about so much, all the injuries and how you didn't have the guys you came to camp with. Where do you square on that? How do you balance contextually maybe that this team did get the most out of who you had?

BRIAN SNITKER: We won 89 games. I'm so proud of those guys. I just told them that. It's amazing what they did, I think, to put ourselves in contention. We had a chance here. We got in the tournament.

Get a hit yesterday, hit today, who knows, we may be playing tomorrow. But we're not. It's the way this thing is. That's how fragile this is and how hard it is. You just remember how hard it is in this long season for things to go right for you.

Q. I know it's, like, in the aftermath of this, and I don't have any reason to think otherwise, but you fully intend to come back next year?

BRIAN SNITKER: Oh, absolutely. I wondered if I would get that question. I wish Spring Training started tomorrow, quite honestly. I just told the guys that.

I can't wait to get to camp and hopefully have our guys whole again. And I'm going to be excited to get there probably more than I ever have been next year, quite honestly.

I said I'm exhausted but, honestly, I wish we could fast-forward and be there tomorrow. I'm serious, too. I can't wait to get there with our guys and do this again.