Former Braves Manager Brian Snitker Reveals Surprising Top-10 SP List

The Atlanta Braves manager put out a top-10 starting pitchers list that raised some eyebrows, but he has his defense for it

Snitker goes based on what he sees | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

This is a time of year when the discussion over who the best heading into the season is in full swing. In retirement, former Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker took a hack at his own top-10 starting pitchers.

For those who see it at first glance, it's going to raise some eyebrows. There is a ranking based more on what he has seen as opposed to sitting and evaluating stats and recent awards. Let's get the top-10 out of the way. This is what was revealed on MLB Network.

1. Chris Sale
2. Max Fried
3. Jacob DeGrom
4. Tarik Skubal 
5. Paul Skenes
6. Logan Webb
7. Garrett Crochet 
8. Christopher Sánchez
9. Yoshinobu Yamamoto 
10. Brian Woo

If you looked at this and had questions, or comments, it's hard to blame you. However, again, Snitker is looking at who he has seen the most of. Those top three are certainly going to fit that bill. He wasn't going to deny that the two reigning Cy Young winners are top-five.

Snitker definitely knows that Skubal and Skenes are the top pitchers for everyone else. He picked his favorites. In the end, it's not meant to be some serious list.

"That's why I hate ranking these guys," Snitker said when asked about Skenes. "He could be No. 1 really easily. I got a chance to meet him at the All-Star Game, which I wanted to do because I had heard nothing but great things about the young man and his makeup."

While he ranked his former Braves pitchers at the top, Snitker added that if he could shuffle these pitchers and pull them out of a hat, it wouldn't be an incorrect list.

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The replies on social media are going to treat this like it's super serious, but if they took a second to stop being so serious for a moment, it's easy to get it. Snitker has had Sale pitching out of his mind for two seasons.

He knows him well. There is bias, obviously. But that relationship and that he's accomplished make it easy for Snitker to want the 2024 Cy Young Award winner on the mound over anyone else.

"Chris Sale, after being around him, there's no better pro. There's nobody right now that I would want on the mound other than him," he said.

Snitker called Sale and Fried his 1A and 1B, and he added that he would pay to watch DeGrom pitch. For what it's worth, DeGrom had a strong return to form. He looked like a star again. We know they aren't the top-three pitchers in baseball, but they're pitchers that any team would like to have.