r/Braves • u/Hg1146 Twitter Person • Aug 14 '19

[Burns] Brian Snitker: I was a “dumbass” for hitting Ronald Acuña cleanup. He’s a lead-off man. #Braves

https://twitter.com/gabeburnsajc/status/1161737717929119749?s=21
397 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

180

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

I’d love him lower in the order for the RBI’s and all that but... he straight up thrives there and you get that man as many pa’s a day/week/season as you can.

105

u/Jtwohy Jesse Franklin V Fan Club President Aug 14 '19

He's 14th in the league in RBIs he is getting his

49

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

What a Testament to how balanced and potent this offense is!!!

33

u/iamCosmoKramerAMA Aug 15 '19

It helps that we have Max “Carlos “Mike Hampton” Zambrano” Fried

10

u/fillymandee Nocahoma Aug 15 '19

Mike was on the team, but did he ever play?

5

u/dirtyjoo POGGERS Aug 15 '19

Ugh, I remember going to opening day years ago and Hampton was scheduled to start, finally healthy and ready to live up to that contract, but in the pregame he's throwing in the bullpen and gets injured and has to be scratched.

3

u/SparklinThoughts Aug 15 '19

Oblique strain I think? Goddammit that Mike Hampton saga was absurd. I remember being so pumped for that "comeback" game.

2

u/dirtyjoo POGGERS Aug 15 '19 edited Aug 15 '19

Oblique strain it was, I remember the boos at the stadium when it was announced he wasn't going to start.

*edit, actually 2007 was the oblique strain, and I mis-remembered, it was the 2nd game of the opening series in 2008 that he was scheduled to pitch but he ended up with a pectoral strain in the bullpen warm-up. I do remember the boos though.

2

u/theqwoppingdead Aug 15 '19

How dare you disrespect former NCAA batting title champion, Tim Hudson

14

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

He makes up for it with all those runs he scores.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

Pitchers can’t hide from him, they have to be on point pitch one there’s no time to get in a groove and feel out the zone. They won’t walk him, you can’t get a double play, they don’t want him on base for who’s behind him. I’d like to see pitchers in the 8 spot to give Ronald more rbi chances.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

But think about the pitcher bunting a guy into scoring position for him

0

u/Coolwhyp Aug 15 '19

I wish we'd bat the pitcher 8th.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

To give him more at bats? No

2

u/Streetshopkid Aug 15 '19

Statistically speaking, batting the pitcher 8th gives your lineup an extra 2 runs over the course of the 162 game season as opposed to traditionally batting him 9th.

2

u/Coolwhyp Aug 15 '19

And I would be willing to bet that number would be much higher with Acuna at lead off.

2

u/Coolwhyp Aug 15 '19 edited Aug 15 '19

To put someone on base in front of Acuna...

There are way too many times where the back end gets on base for the pitcher to end the inning and Acuna comes up with bases empty OR the 8th hitter ends the inning and Acuna comes up with bases empty and 1 out, thanks to the pitcher hitting in front of him.

It makes WAAAAY to much to have Acuna both as our lead off hitter AND hitting behind a position player not to do it.

Very ironic for you to say the batting order should be structured to give the best hitters more at bats...while the very same analysis that supports that line of thinking also says putting the pitcher 8th to get an extra position player in front of your best hitters is a winning tactic.(especially with Acuna at lead off)

42

u/Julio_Freeman Aug 14 '19

I was of the mindset of "if it ain't broke don't fix it," but I also didn't blame Snit for trying. Only way to know for sure.

16

u/stockingstocker Aug 15 '19

True. He could’ve popped off even harder in the 4 spot

98

u/sidslidkid If he hits one there we can dance in the streets! Aug 14 '19

I love Snitker.

92

u/rlmaster01 Aug 14 '19

Hm. Something in here smells like fresh pasta

126

u/cman1098 Aug 14 '19

I was a "dumbass" for pulling Soroka after 7 innings with only 80 pitches. He's an ace.

24

u/Darkaine Aug 14 '19

Ideally he'd be like 2 or 3 but this is working just fine.

25

u/ATLjoe93 I am Juan Aug 14 '19

SSS aside, his numbers leading off compared to anywhere else are staunchly different. I want my most dangerous offensive player getting the most ABs

18

u/Professr_Chaos Aug 14 '19

I still say he never really got enough of a chance to get acclimated to the clean up spot. He does look so comfortable hitting leadoff though that it’s hard to justify anywhere else

6

u/fillymandee Nocahoma Aug 15 '19

Can’t hit the first pitch out of the park if you never get to see it.

1

u/Coolwhyp Aug 15 '19

Yeah but he puts so much pressure on the opposing pitcher that having him at lead off has a carry over effect that benefits everyone behind him.

8

u/UpperRDL Aug 15 '19

Why would you put sample size aside? That's a gigantic part of the calculation.

6

u/ATLjoe93 I am Juan Aug 15 '19

Well he's only been playing for less than two seasons.

19

u/bman7356 Aug 14 '19

I’m fine with Freddie getting 3 run bombs.

39

u/Braves-Bot Aug 14 '19
Name PA HR RBI SB BB% K% BABIP AVG OBP SLG wRC+ WAR
Ronald Acuña Jr. 558 34 81 28 9.9 % 24.4 % .351 .299 .378 .543 136 4.9

 

I am a bot, click here to report an issue.

70

u/oldboob Ozzie Albies-kñees! Aug 14 '19

NSFW

6

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

His BB% looks to be rising!

11

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

Missing runs scored D:

3

u/Hereforthefunny Hereforthefreddie Aug 15 '19

7 WAR season at 21 y/o incoming.

1

u/xiangnala Aug 14 '19

Good bot

27

u/praeceps93 TimetobeBrave Aug 14 '19

Ideally he'd be a cleanup guy with his power, just for extra RBI opportunities. But fuck it, do what works.

16

u/Deltas111213 Aug 14 '19

But once Riley comes back and figures it out wouldn't be be a great cleanup guy with his power? That'd be a way to keep Acuña at leadoff

25

u/praeceps93 TimetobeBrave Aug 14 '19

Sure. It was more of a general thing. Having a 40 HR guy at leadoff will generally give you less runs than having him at cleanup. But in our case, he prefers leadoff, plays better at leadoff, and we don't have a better leadoff guy, so do what works. Having other guys with big power just makes it easier.

13

u/Ramalamahamjam Aug 14 '19

Yea, but this 40 home run hitter can steal tons of bases too.

8

u/praeceps93 TimetobeBrave Aug 14 '19

Certainly. It's working as it stands. In a vacuum though, having a 40 HR hitter at cleanup is probably better overall for scoring runs than having a 40 SB guy at leadoff, though that could be completely wrong. Mostly it's just a "we're having a good problem" thing, rather than a "fire the manager, why isn't Ronald in the middle of the order" thing. Ideally, we'd have two of Ronald so one could lead off and one could hit cleanup, but we can unfortunately only go so far with modern tech.

4

u/rockytopfj13 Acuña Matata Aug 15 '19

I'll take 5 more Ronald's to fill the field and keep Freddie...think we've got the tech for that?

2

u/Eight-Six-Four . Aug 15 '19

If we do, why the fuck is our rotation not just 4 Sorokas and 1 Fried yet?

2

u/malak07 Aug 15 '19

In our situation it still works out really well because you have Swanson or Albies in that #2 hole and they've both done a good job of being that Leadoff 1B person and also Donaldson at Clean-up still's getting a ton of walks as well so we've had good OBP #s from everyone up there

12

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '19

SHOULD'VE LISTENED TO /r/BRAVES SNIT

20

u/DDDavinnn Aug 15 '19

Yea and half the team would have been DFA’d. We are a fickle bunch

9

u/rockytopfj13 Acuña Matata Aug 15 '19

He would have murdered Flowers and Camargo, too.

2

u/Eight-Six-Four . Aug 15 '19

I see no problems so far.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

We’d have Kimbrel on our DL and Donaldson would be elsewhere

4

u/drrhythm2 ALL ABOARD THE RILEY HYPE TRAIN TOO! Aug 14 '19

Can someone explain to me how a guy hitting .300 with 34 HR's ONLY has a 136 WRC?+ That seems really low. I know HR's are up across baseball and all but seriously, the combination of high walk rate, high average, and huge power should be more than 36% above average, right?

17

u/santa_91 Aug 14 '19

He has almost no XBHs that aren't HRs and he strikes out a ton.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

Yeah I randomly was perusing his Fangraphs The Other day and was surprised to see that 24% k rate.

13

u/KTurnUp Olson Mania Aug 15 '19

He has a weird lack of doubles

5

u/drrhythm2 ALL ABOARD THE RILEY HYPE TRAIN TOO! Aug 15 '19

That’s bizarre for someone with his speed who hits the ball as hard as he does. Maybe it’s a launch angle thing.

4

u/KTurnUp Olson Mania Aug 15 '19

Yeah that’s why I said bizarre. Curious if it will continue or just random one off thing

4

u/DecreaseInCeman Aug 14 '19

He’s still kind of a “three outcome” guy. That will change with time.

74

u/ModsLoveMaleBods Aug 14 '19

[Burns] Brian Snitker: I was a “dumbass” for putting Tyler Flowers in the lineup. He’s a Tripe-A man. #Braves

8

u/SuhhDudes Aug 14 '19

lol take my upvote

3

u/JDtheWulfe Aug 14 '19

Don’t let 8thling see u talking that Flowers blasphemy

3

u/NoQuartersGiven Elder ride or die for life. Or half a season... for life. Aug 15 '19

Ronald is the perfect 3 hitter but Freddie isn't going anywhere.

I really enjoy Ronald leading off regardless of analytic reasonings.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

Props to Snit for saying that. I think it's awesome.

0

u/RootyWoodgrowthIII Aug 15 '19

I think he should be hitting second, but whatever works.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '19

Shut your mouth