The Philadelphia Phillies won two of three against the Atlanta Braves to strengthen their grip on the NL East. After a turbulent few weeks to open the season, Philly has settled into a nice groove. Their division rivals, meanwhile, continue to stall. The Phillies now lead the Mets by 2.0 games and the Braves by 9.5 games.

Atlanta’s lone victory in the series occurred in the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday. It was a commanding 9-3 victory, with the Braves jumping all over Zack Wheeler for six runs in 5.1 innings, including a four-run fourth.

After the loss in the first leg of the doubleheader, however, Braves manager Brian Snitker couldn’t help but slyly disrespect the Phillies when asked about Ozzie Albies’ failed steal attempt.

Rather than simply crediting Rafael Marchán for a nice throw, Snitker blamed Albies for getting a bad jump (sure, whatever), and said Marchán does not normally throw folks out. Quite the random burn for the Phillies’ backup catcher — and not really an accurate statement.

Brian Snitker pointlessly critiques Phillies’ backup catcher after he catches Ozzie Albies stealing

Look, Snitker has every right to criticize Albies for getting a bad jump on the pitch — it’s a valid complaint and he is, after all, Albies’ coach. But to throw out this narrative that Marchán can’t really throw guys out, and to paint this as a uniquely bad screw-up from Albies, is a bit silly. Mainly because Marchán is a perfectly good defensive catcher.

Per Baseball Savant, Marchán ranks in MLB’s 87th percentile for pop time and averages one runner caught stealing above the league average (in the 70th percentile). Marchán is not the well-known defensive savant that Phillies starter J.T. Realmuto is, but he’s more than capable of snuffing out runners, especially when they don’t read a pitch properly.

Snitker picked the wrong night to downplay Rafael Marchán

Snitker’s statement is a bit baffling. Marchán did more than throw Albies out; he went 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI and a walk. Oh, and he caught Stuart Fairchild stealing four innings earlier, so Albies was Marchán’s second throw-out of the ballgame. So, that probably left the Braves a bit jaded, but c’mon. Trying to paint him as a weak arm only makes your team look worse in the end.

The Phillies have experienced their share of turbulence in recent years, both in the regular season and the playoffs, but this Braves often succumbs to their stacked, veteran roster. Snitker already has demons to exorcise in this matchup, and Philadelphia already has a reason for ill feelings after Spencer Strider hit Bryce Harper a day earlier. Why is the Atlanta manager fueling this fire, of all the available fires? Just credit Marchán, complain about your team’s base-running fundamentals (which clearly need improvement, just ask Eli White). There’s no reason for the backhanded insult.