The Atlanta Braves fired hitting coach Kevin Seitzer after one of the toughest offensive seasons the team has endured in years. He was eventually replaced by Rangers hitting coach Tim Hyers who is an Atlanta native.
Assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes was also let go from his position. This left the Braves in a search for replacements ahead of the 2025 season and it seems they've finally made their decision.
Atlanta announced the hiring of Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez as assistant hitting coaches. This provides the Braves with three hitting coaches to try and turn things around from a disappointing season.
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
Braves hire Hugh Quattlebaum and Carlos Méndez in hopes of turning their offense around
Quattlebaum served as assistant director of hitting for the Diamondbacks during the 2024 season. He'd been with Arizona since 2023 as the hitting coach for the ACL Diamondbacks. Hugh's first professional coaching experience started with the Mariners in 2018 where he spent three seasons as their Minor League Hitting Coordinator. After that, he was with the Mets as the Director of Hitting Development from 2021-2022.
Carlos Méndez has been with the Atlanta Braves organization for a long time. He's served in the Braves minor league system for 17 seasons and this is his first role as an MLB coach. Carlos has been a coach at every MiLB level and started with the Danville Braves in 2008. His role in 2024 was hitting coach for the FCL Braves.
Both players have a bit of experience in professional baseball but neither saw a lot of time at the MLB level. Quattlebaum was in the Tigers and Orioles minor league systems from 2000-2003 before ending his career. Méndez had a 16-year minor league career with multiple teams from 1992-2007. He did play in 26 games with the Orioles in 2003, however. He retired after the 2007 season and immediately began a career in coaching.
They have a tough task ahead of themselves with a lot of pressure to help Tim Hyers fix an offense that underperformed last year. The silver lining is that the offense is full of talented bats so there's a good baseline to work with. This is the first time Atlanta has featured three hitting coaches since 2023.