Brian Snitker Hints Austin Riley's 5 Errors in 15 Games May Actually Be the Fault of the Braves' Grounds Crew

The Athletic — “I don’t think it’s all him, if you want to know the truth,” Snitker said of Riley’s recent errors. “He’s getting some bad hops and things like that. I don’t think it’s a bad infielder. I think some of the stuff is out of his control.”

He didn’t cite an issue with the condition of the infield, but sounded as if that’s what he meant.

Austin Riley booted a ground ball to lead off the sixth inning of the Braves' game against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, prolonging an inning in which Gavin Sheets would go on to hit a two-out, two-run homer in a game Atlanta ended up losing by two runs. It was Riley's fifth error in the Braves' last 15 games, but anyone wondering about Riley's defense should apparently turn their ire towards the Truist Park grounds crew — at least according to Brian Snitker.

I understand Snitker trying to defend his players to the media, but sometimes it's better to allow valid criticism — of the highest-paid player in franchise history, no less — than to say something this stupid and make the entire organization look incompetent. Putting aside the fact that one of the most forward-facing people of your billion-dollar company is trashing people who work very hard for a lot less money than he's making, Nick Allen plays about 50 feet to Riley's left on the same infield and has been the best defender in baseball this year. So unless the grounds crew is doing something at shortstop that they aren't at third base, I think we can leave them out of it.

And Riley's defense isn't the sole reason the Braves have cooled back off after finally putting together a nice stretch, but it obviously isn't helping and we don't have to shield every player from all criticism. I would actually hope the guy making more money than any Atlanta Brave in history would get in front of the microphones and say, "I haven't been playing defense the way I expect to recently and it's going to change." That's it. Story over.

But instead, we're sitting here talking about the Truist Park grounds crew. I just want to go back to when the Braves pissed on the baseball every night and pitchers were scared to face that lineup. Now we lose every game 2-1 and have to pay attention to stories like this. Take me back, man.