Two years ago, when the Atlanta Braves moved on from hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, the rationale was clear. A team had had regressed from a record-setting 2023 needed to get better at situational hitting.
When they brought on Tim Hyers for the 2025 season, that messaging was reiterated. However, after two seasons, it's clear that Hyers isn't the right fit for the Braves. After an embarrassing offensive performance bounced the Braves from the 2026 playoffs, and after two seasons without improvement from much of the core, the Braves need to make the obvious decision.
Braves must move on from Tim Hyers before the 2027 season
If there was a single stat that proved that Hyers messaging on situational hitting did not get through to Braves hitters, it would be how the team fared with runners in scoring position in the NLDS. Atlanta had 23 at bats with a runner in scoring position against Los Angeles. They got a hit in one of those at bats. According to OptaSTATS, it is the second-worst batting average in a postseason series with at least 20 at bats, trailing only the 1966 Dodgers.
The Braves went 1-for-23 (.043) with runners in scoring position in the series against the Dodgers.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 8, 2026
That's the second-lowest batting average with RISP in a postseason series in MLB history (min. 20 AB with RISP), behind only the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series (0-for-22).
Aside from Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies, the entire Braves offense struggled mightly throughout the playoffs, not just the NLDS. Atlanta got next to nothing from their stars at the top of the lineup, Ronald Acuña Jr, Matt Olson, and Drake Baldwin.
Despite Hyers best efforts, it's clear that his messaging wasn't able to break through to the Braves core. Unfortunately for the Braves and Hyers, their struggles in the playoffs were a microcosm of a season's long struggle
Since taking over in 2024, the Braves have had six core position players carry over from the 2023 season through the 2026 season: Ronald Acuña Jr, Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, and Sean Murphy. Of the six hitters, only Olson and Acuña Jr. have had an OPS+ above their 2024 marks in both seasons. Only Harris II has had a single season that matched or exceded their OPS+ mark in 2023 once.
The Braves' patience in 2026 also deteriorated, as the club had the second-lowest walk-rate in the franchise's last 25 years. Historically patient hitters like Acuña Jr, Olson, and Murphy all had their lowest walk-rates in years, with Olson's walk-rate being the lowest in his entire career. The Braves' overall 97 wRC+ as a team ranked as the club's worst since the universal DH was established in 2022. From May onward this season, Atlanta had the fifth-worst offense in baseball this season.
Of course, to pin all of the blame for the Braves awful offense on Hyers would be unfair. At the end of the day, Hyers isn't making the swing decisions for the players. However, two years of near constant regression from the entire offense is enough for the Braves to try and find another voice that can get through to the hitters.
Hyers was one of the few coaching holdovers from the 2025 season, but it will be surprising if he continues on with the Braves into the 2027 season.
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