Braves outfielder Jarred Kelenic got thrown out at second base after hitting a ball against the wall on Saturday because he didn’t run hard out of the box. Manager Brian Snitker left Kelenic in the game and, asked afterward whether he said anything to him about the play, Snitker said: “Was I supposed to, or…?”
That answer got the attention Braves superstar Ronald Acuña. Responding to a social media post about the Kelenic play by MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, Acuña wrote in a since-deleted tweet: “If it were me, they would take me out of the game.”
That’s not just speculation by Acuña. Snitker removed Acuña from a 2019 game after he made a similar mistake, and the manager had plenty to say to reporters about that incident. At the time, Snitker said not running hard out of the box was “not going to be acceptable here.”
So why Snitker seemingly give Kelenic a pass on a comparable play?
“They’re all different,” Snitker said Sunday after the Braves completed a three-game sweep of the Twins. “All the situations, when they happen, they are all different. And I addressed it with Jarred (Sunday morning).”
What made Acuña’s play in 2019 different from Kelenic’s play on Saturday?
“It’s just timing and all of everything,” Snitker said. “There is no blanket thing doing that. Quite honestly, if you want to know the truth, I wasn’t watching that (Kelenic) play. I knew he got thrown out at second. I didn’t see it until this morning, and then I talked to him about it.”
It wouldn’t have been difficult for Snitker to figure out what happened during Kelenic’s play after the fact. He could have watched the replay on the video board. Snitker could have asked his coaches what happened. Everyone in the ballpark saw that Kelenic would have made it to second standing up if he hadn’t paused to admire his hard-hit ball.
Does Snitker still believe it’s unacceptable for his players to not run hard on batted balls?
“If you don’t run, and it’s a big time like that, yeah,” Snitker said. “Quite honestly, I don’t look for (Kelenic) to not do it because he plays with his hair on fire all the time and he’s laying out.”
If the implication is that Acuña doesn’t always go all out, then that’s fair criticism. He usually plays with focus and intensity, but sometimes his focus waivers. After Acuña was removed from a game in August 2019 for not hustling on a single off the wall, he did the same thing during a playoff game that year (Snitker didn’t take him out that time).
What’s not fair to Acuña is benching him publicly calling him out for his mistake while letting Kelenic slide. Acuña was right to be bothered by the double standard. If Snitker really didn’t know about Kelenic’s play before he met reporters following Saturday’s game, then someone should have told him. The news of Acuña’s reaction to Snitker ended up overshadowing the first series sweep of the season for the Braves.
Most coaches endeavor to treat all players the same, from the stars to the last person on the bench. It doesn’t always work that way in practice. The most valuable people in any organization tend to get more leeway. In this case, Snitker reacted more harshly to a mistake by the star player than the role player.
Acuña was a 21-year-old budding superstar in 2019. He’d won Rookie of the Year the previous season and played in the 2019 All-Star game. Kelenic, 25, has been a below-average player for the Braves since they acquired him before last season. He’s hitting .180 in 50 at-bats this year and likely will be sent to the bench when Acuña returns within the next month.
Acuña noticed that Kelenic seemingly got more leeway from Snitker than him. During the third inning of the 2019 game against the Dodgers, Acuña jogged out of the box while watching what he figured would be a home run ball. He was limited to a single when the ball bounced off the wall.
Snitker told Acuña he was removing him from that game when he came off the field after the top of the fourth inning. Snitker said he opted against doing so immediately because replacement Adam Duvall needed time to get ready.
“He didn’t run,” Snitker said of Acuña at the time. “You’ve got to run. It’s not going to be acceptable here. As a teammate, you’re responsible for 24 other guys, and that name on the front is a lot more important than that name on the back of that jersey.
“You can’t do that. We’re trying to accomplish something special here. Personal things have to be put on the back burner.”
After the 2019 incident, Snitker credited Acuña for owning up to his mistake. Acuña said there was “no excuse” for not running hard and that he respected Snitker’s decision to remove him from the game. Nearly six years later, Acuña noted the double standard in Snitker’s response when Kelenic made a similar mistake.
After Sunday’s game, Snitker said he hadn’t spoken to Acuña about the play. If and when Snitker talks to Acuña, then he can tell him he didn’t remove Kelenic from the game or criticize him publicly because he didn’t see the play until the next day. Maybe Acuña will accept that explanation.
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