What makes the MLB playoffs such an enthralling thing to watch for fans is that anything can happen once the festivities begin. More than any other professional sport in North America, the MLB postseason is a crapshoot, with regular season win totals becoming nothing but a thing of the past. But for teams that experience soul-crushing playoff exits, like the Atlanta Braves did when they suffered a 3-1 NLDS defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies, the experience is the furthest thing from exhilarating.

The MLB regular season is a grueling 162-game grind, and the bigger the sample size, the more it turns out well in favor of teams with the most talent. But in the playoffs, teams such as the Braves (who won 104 games this past season), have no such luxury. Just a few cold spells and you're out, and Brian Snitker's men had to learn this the hard way for the second-straight season.

For now, with the Braves still reeling from this early playoff exit, Snitker could do nothing but find whatever silver linings there may be to help dampen the emotional impact of this devastating defeat.

“They had nothing to hang their heads about. I mean, it stinks, what just happened. We wanted to go deep into this postseason but [that wasn't to be]. It just didn't happen in this playoff series,” Snitker said, per Bally Sports: Braves. “It was a phenomenal year for our club. It didn't end the way we wanted it to, but it doesn't always do that in this game.”

That is the harsh reality of the playoffs. Come the end of the year, 29 teams will feel the heartbreak of not being the team that hoists the World Series trophy. Even the Phillies know a similar sting after losing to the Houston Astros last year despite being at the heart of a rousing underdog story.

But at least for the Braves, they will have the luxury of bringing back all the crucial players of their 104-win 2023 squad and Brian Snitker knows that in a few months' time, the promise of a new season will bring forth renewed hope.

“I said, take a couple months off, and then we're gonna go back North Port, middle of February, and gear up to do it again,” Snitker added.