Brian Snitker met with reporters following the Braves win Saturday over the Nationals. Snitker told reporters that Charlie Culberson was awake and alert when he departed for the hospital but that he didn’t have anything to report yet in regards to his status going forward.
"You got one of your teammates that everybody loves in this room. So we'll just pray for Charlie."@Braves manager Brian Snitker was brought to tears when discussing Charlie Culberson getting hit in the face with a pitch. pic.twitter.com/dyNHrcdiDF
— FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) September 15, 2019
Snitker said that he didn’t think the injury was in Culberson’s eye socket and he and the team are hoping and praying for the best. He stopped short of commenting on his ejection from the game. Snitker was nearly overcome with emotion during the interview and you can see that his love of his players is genuine.
At this point, we probably won’t see an official update on Culberson until sometime on Sunday. The Braves will wrap up their road trip with the Nationals on Sunday.
Plate umpire Tim Timmons told reporters after the game that he checked with first base umpire Bill Welke to determine whether or not Culberson offered at the pitch.
Plate umpire Tim Timmons said he was focused on Culberson's well being until Nats manager Dave Martinez asked him to see if Culberson offered at the pitch. When asked, first base umpire Bill Welke said Culberson offered. Thus they called the strike.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 15, 2019
Asked if there is a point where an umpire has to be sympathetic to a defenseless batter, Tim Timmons said, "We’re always sympathetic to a guy hit in the eye. But the rules are the rules. He had him offering at the pitch and that’s what we had."
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) September 15, 2019
Nationals manager Dave Martinez had this to say about Culberson’s injury. He also defended leaving Rodney in after the hit by pitch. Rodney did not meet with reporters following the game.
Martinez on the Culberson injury: "It was awful. You never wish that upon anybody." Also felt like Rodney was OK to continue pitching after it happened, noting he struck out Duvall (who finished Culberson's at-bat).
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) September 15, 2019
Fernando Rodney had already left the clubhouse by the time reporters entered. For what it's worth, we didn't get in there until about 25 minutes after the game ended, later than usual.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) September 15, 2019