Brian Snitker was named one of the three finalists for the NL Manager of the Year award in 2023, along with Craig Counsell and Skip Schumaker. The Braves skipper led the team to the most wins in baseball with 104, and in reality, it probably could be even more than that if anybody in the NL East presented a legitimate threat. Snitker was hoping to win the award for the second time in his career (2018), but having the best record in baseball doesn’t often matter when it comes to Manager of the Year awards.
For the second year in a row, the NL Manager of the Year award will be staying inside the NL East. And for the second year in a row, it will not go to the manager that actually won the division. Last year, Buck Showalter was honored despite leading an epic collapse down the stretch. That decision still has me scratching my head. This year, the Marlins Skip Schumaker took home the hardware.
The breakdown of the NL Manager of the Year voting
(via @Feinsand) pic.twitter.com/IO6AKryVnF
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) November 14, 2023
Manager of the Year is a funny award because the managers on the best teams are always overlooked in favor of managers on worse teams that are perceived to overachieve. Nobody thought the Marlins would be a playoff team in 2023, and while they barely snuck in, Skip Schumaker certainly deserves a ton of credit for the job he did in his first season.
I have no issue with it. Brian Snitker had his moment in 2018 when the Braves were the up-and-coming team that came out of nowhere, and that’s just typically how this award is decided.
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Photographer: David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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