Atlanta Braves Hire Two New Assistant Hitting Coaches

The Braves have now assembled their hitting coaching staff for the 2025 season

Brian Snitker now has his crew of hitting coaches / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves announced that they have hired two new assistant hitting coaches. Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez will serve alongside the recently hired hitting coach, Tim Hyers.  

The #Braves today announced the organization has hired Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez to the major league coaching staff: pic.twitter.com/ytZ390Y4Rv

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) November 22, 2024

Both coaches will be on a Major League coaching staff for the first time in their careers. 

Mélendez had been working in the Braves organization for 17 seasons in the minor leagues and has served at nearly every level of the system. He worked with the rookie ball FCL Braves in 2024 but was with Triple-A Gwinnett the previous three seasons. 

Quattlebaum comes over from the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. He’s also spent time in the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners organizations. 

The Braves have spent the early offseason overhauling their coaching staff under manager Brian Snitker. In mid-October, the Braves parted ways with Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes and catching coach Sal Fasano. While the catching coach role will not be replaced, have still made three new hires, adding an extra assistant coach. 

These initial moves came as a surprise. In the press conferences following the Braves' elimination from the postseason, the plan was to retain the current staff. At first, they seemed like they were willing to write this year off as a fluke, down year plagued by injuries. However, the plans changed about a week later, giving the departing coaches time to find other opportunities this offseason. 

While this wasn’t mentioned as a reason, there is a flip side to this. The Braves now have a new coaching staff assembled for when they chat with free agents this weekend. 

In total, the Braves brought two new guys in and promoted one from within. The Braves have plenty of history of doing the latter - Snitker was with the Braves for decades before being named manager. 

The Braves saw their offense go from being the top offense in MLB to a major liability in a single season. 

In 2023, they led MLB in batting average (.276), on-base percentage (.344), slugging percentage (.501), OPS (.845), home runs (307) and total runs (914). They were the only team to hit 300 home runs or more and score 900 runs or more. 

Fast-forward to 2024 and they scored 240 fewer runs and hit 94 fewer home runs. They drew fewer walks, but the overall drop in production came from a dip in the ability to hit the ball. The team's batting average fell to .243.  

Healthy players, some of whom were all-stars just last season, saw their production drop off when the team needed them to step up.