When the Atlanta Braves disappointed in 2024, one could easily blame the offense, which went from having one of the greatest offensive years in MLB history to a having a rather mediocre offense. When the Braves fired longtime hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, it was clear that the Braves' front office agreed with that assessment.
However, as the Braves have scuffled through the 2025 season, it's clear that firing Seitzer and replacing him with an arguably worse version of the same coach has not worked out.
Firing Kevin Seitzer was not the move to save the Braves offense
Even at the time, Seitzer felt like a scapegoat for a season where everything seemed to go wrong. While the Braves did seem regression from guys like Olson and Arcia, they were the only two players healthy enough across a full season not named Marcell Ozuna.
Every other Braves starter was crushed by injuries that last at least two months. Sean Murphy was never able to get back on track after his Opening Day injury, Ozzie Albies came back hitting only right-handed to try and get the Braves into the playoffs, and Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley's injuries were of the season-ending variety.
While Tim Hyers had success turning around the Texas Rangers in 2023, the 2023 World Series champions had a very similar hitting philosophy as the Braves, hitting homers as their main means of production.
After finishing the 2023 season as the third-best offense by wRC+, nine points behind the Braves, the Rangers also regressed to the 22nd offense in MLB by wRC+, worse than the tattered Braves. Like the Braves, the Rangers saw a huge decrease in homers, going from fourth in the league with 233 to 18th in 2024 with 176 homers. Unlike the Braves, the Rangers not have the injury massacre the Braves had.
This year, the Braves have a below-average offense by wRC+, worse than last season. They're even worse with runners in scoring position with a 94 wRC+, though they have maintained their spot as 22nd in the league.
Situational hitting was a focal point for the hitting coach this spring, but whatever messaging he has had not gotten through this season.
Kevin Seitzer, on the other hand, has helped the Mariners offense turn things around. A year after finishing the season as the 12th-best offense in MLB by wRC+, the Mariners currently ranking sixth. It's arguable that much of that improvement has come from Cal Raleigh, who leads MLB in homers and J.P. Crawford, who has seen a 40 point improvement in wRC+, but aside from Mitch Garver, no other Mariner has seen a huge dip in performance,.
Whether the Braves were justified or not moving on from Seitzer, hiring a hitting coach who ran teams with similar philosophies and worse outcomes was probably not the spark the team needed to transform the offense.