FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2014, file photo, Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez talks to the media before a baseball game against the Washington Nationals in Washington. Gonzalez will return as the Braves manager next season. Interim general manager John Hart made the announcement Friday, Oct. 3, 2014. (AP Photo/Nick Wass, File 
Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations John Hart, center, and general manager John Coppolella, left, meet with reporters in the dugout before a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. The Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez, Tuesday, May 17, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)With the Braves
Fredi Gonzalez was just 21 games above .500 in five-plus seasons as Braves manager. Here’s a closer look at how Atlanta fared with Gonzalez in charge:› 2011: 89-73, second in NL East, missed playoffs› 2012: 94-68, second in NL East, lost in NL wild card› 2013: 96-66, first in NL East, lost 3-1 to Dodgers in NLDS› 2014: 79-83, second in NL East, missed playoffs› 2015: 69-95, fourth in NL East, missed playoffs› 2016: 9-28, fifth in NL East
ATLANTA - As the losses piled up one after another, the burden of unmet expectations - no matter how modest - weighed on Fredi Gonzalez.
Saddled with the worst record in the majors and a rebuilding project whose timetable will be measured in years, the Atlanta Braves finally relieved the pressure on their embattled manager Tuesday, firing Gonzalez and replacing him with Brian Snitker in hopes of trying to salvage something out of an already forgettable 2016.
"It was wearing on him, how we were playing and what was going on," director of baseball operations John Hart said. "We just thought this was the right thing to do."
The Braves entered Tuesday's games just 9-28 and on pace for the franchise's worst season in almost 30 years, done in by injuries, roster moves that haven't worked out, a shaky bullpen and a struggling offense.
While Hart and general manager John Coppolella expected growing pains as the Braves tried to generate momentum heading into a new suburban ballpark in spring 2017, they didn't expect Atlanta to bottom out so quickly and so completely.
Yet when Gonzalez tried to make the right moves in search of something - anything really - nothing happened. Atlanta opened the season with a nine-game losing streak. Heading into Tuesday night's game in Pittsburgh, the Braves ranked either last or next-to-last in the majors in runs, home runs, batting average and slugging percentage.
Although Hart and Coppolella stressed the team's problems were not Gonzalez's fault, when they decided in recent days the 52-year-old would not be back in 2017 no matter what, they opted to make a change.
"Our bad start is not just laid at the foot of Fredi Gonzalez," Hart said. "We all assume a lot of responsibility. That being said, we do think we're better than what we've played."
Enter Snitker, who has spent the past four decades as a player, coach or manager in the organization, most recently with Triple-A Gwinnett. Coppolella pointed to Snitker's familiarity with the team's high-end prospects as a significant factor in the promotion, one Snitker considers bittersweet.
"When things go like they have been, somebody's got to go," Snitker said.
Gonzalez went 434-413 in five-plus seasons in Atlanta, including leading the Braves to the NL East title in 2013, their 17th postseason appearance in 22 years. Yet what began as a slow slide in 2014 accelerated quickly in the past 10 months. Atlanta went 34-81 in Gonzalez's final 115 games, a freefall abetted by a front office decision to dump experienced (and in some cases expensive) players such as Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and Andrelton Simmons in exchange for young pitchers.
Although Coppolella and Hart remain committed to the team's long-term vision, they grew increasingly impatient with the missteps in the present.
"At the end of it, at some point you've got to put a product out there that's going to respectable and we just think there's more in it," Hart said. "We've got a lot of season left."
Even if there's almost no chance of contending in the NL East this year. The Braves are the only team in the division with a losing record and already are more than a dozen games behind first-place Washington less than a quarter of the way through.
It's not the bridge year they had in mind in trying to nurture a pitching staff it considers the bedrock of the future. Early-season injuries to outfielder Ender Inciarte and third baseman Gordon Beckham haven't helped, neither has a 2-17 record at Turner Field.
The Braves are asking the 60-year-old Snitker to give the clubhouse a chance to exhale. He met with the players early Tuesday, saying he'd need time to get a feel for the job but promising to stay upbeat.
"I told them they're good players," Snitker said. "The record isn't where they want it but that's not the kind of team this is. They're in game, they get after it, it just hasn't went their way."
Atlanta also fired bench coach Carlos Tosca. Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed has joined the team as bullpen coach. Terry Pendleton will move from first base coach to bench coach and Eddie Perez will move from bullpen coach to first base coach.
The Braves went with Snitker over other internal candidates, including Pendleton, and plan to revisit the managing situation in the fall. For now, however, there is the task of trying to find a way out of a funk that shows no signs of abating anytime soon.
"I think when you look at our club offensively, we don't have a lot of power," Hart said. "We know what we have. At the same point, this is a club that has some talent, has some ability we want to see that when we have a chance to get more wins, we finish it off."