Braves New Hitting Coach Preaching Necessary Change to Team's Offensive Approach

Atlanta Braves new hitting coach Tim Hyers said all the right things in his first interview with The Athletic after joining the organization.

New Atlanta Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Injuries plagued the Atlanta Braves offense for most of the 2024 season. But injuries aren't to blame for all of the team's offensive struggles this past year.

That feeling became evident around the organization when they fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, who was the longest-tenured hitting coach in the big leagues at 10 years prior to his exit.

The Braves also parted ways with assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes this offseason.

On Oct. 24, the Braves announced hiring Tim Hyers as the team's new hitting coach. He comes to Atlanta after serving as hitting coach or assistant hitting coach for the past nine years. In those nine seasons, Hyers' offense helped earn three World Series berths.

But more important than his resume, and far more vital than the fact that he's an Atlanta native, Hyers will bring a fresh perspective on offense to the Braves.

In his first interview as Braves hitting coach with The Athletic's David O'Brien, Hyers stressed a "holistic approach" that takes into account several factors in how to approach hitting.

Hyers isn't going to drastically change Atlanta's offense. He told O'Brien that "slug and on-base" is the way to score runs. But it's also not the only way.

“Utilizing their swings to be able to use the whole field — you know, take those layups to the opposite field if we need it or the game tells you to do that," said Hyers.

“I think when you put all those things together, then we can be a team that can be a little more fluid from the first inning to the ninth inning, Because every game’s different, but you have to optimize and see those opportunities to score runs. And when you’re fluid — we’re always going to have a game plan, we’ll always be ready to attack, but the game’s always going to tell us something. And in the middle of the game, can we make some of those adjustments, to do things to score runs.”

Perhaps more than an upgrade at shortstop or outfield insurance in case Ronald Acuña isn't ready for opening day, an improvement in situational hitting is what the Braves need in 2025. Atlanta was ranked 20th with a .247 batting average with runners in scoring position this past season.

The Braves were also 20th in OPS with runners in scoring position and 21st in sacrifice flies. As a result, their offense struggled to score runs without power from Acuña, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. Missing Acuña's ability to swipe a bag hurt the offense too.

In 2024, Hyers' Rangers offense was ranked third in the MLB with a .271 batting average with runners in scoring position.

Improving in that area could be the key to the Braves getting back to the top of the NL East next year.

"There’s days when you’re facing an ace and we’re going to have to single him to death,” added Hyers. “When we’re probably not going to be able to hit three or four home runs. But we’ve got to scratch some runs out. And that’s when, late in games, it’s in those close games that we value some of the situational hitting, just to scratch out some runs to make sure that we benefit our pitchers that are holding the opposing offense close.”

Situational hitting has become somewhat of a lost art in the MLB. The Braves shouldn't use it all the time, but more of it in 2025 would very likely be helpful to the offense and team as a whole.

For that reason, it sounds like Hyers is already a perfect fit as the Braves new hitting coach.