It isn't fair, but the Atlanta Braves' choice to name Walt Weiss as manager came with a healthy amount of skepticism. In an era where knowing analytics and how to best use them often determines whether a team wins or loses, a number of Braves fans worried that "staying the course" with Weiss would mean an old school approach that didn't mesh well with how baseball games are won these days. Given those concerns, Weiss' introductory press conference was highly anticipated to see how he would address that concern among other things.
Weiss did a lot of the things you would expect from these sorts of press conferences He made sure to thank his support network including his family as well as Brian Snitker and Bobby Cox for putting him in position to get this job. Weiss also talked at length about how he thinks his knowledge and experience with this team is going to go a long way towards succeeding with them and that this situation is far different from the one he inherited when he got his first manager job with the Rockies.
Arguably more importantly, Weiss answered the questions about his openness to analytics and how he views using them as manager. Instead of skirting the issue and leaving it to the imagination of others, Weiss answered bluntly and seemed to embrace any and all information that will help the team win games.
“My philosophy is why would anyone in a position or leadership turn their back on the information.”
— Stephen (@b_outliers) November 4, 2025
Weiss on the analytical side of the game
It is still early, but Braves fans should be cautiously optimistic about Walt Weiss' embrace of analytics
Time will actually tell if Weiss seemingly embracing the use of analytics and talking a bit about how he uses it to make decisions and how that information is relayed to the coaching staff and players. You will struggle to find anyone serious candidate for a job in baseball that is going to come out and say that you don't need analytics to win baseball games. TV talking heads and lowly sports writers sure, but not those who are actually looking to work in the game itself.
However, we do have to give Alex Anthopoulos some credit. He has built a very analytics-forward organization with some of the brightest minds in the field on the Braves' payroll. The idea that he would actually hire a manager that didn't understand how to use analytics and create that sort of partnership across departments is a stretch at best.
At the end of the day, having a blend of a multitude of approaches is always best. Weiss not only seems to be open to data-based approaches, but he also played the game for a long time which should help inform his choices and perhaps bring old friendships back to the forefront to assist. With the coaching staff still not finalized (nor would either Weiss or Anthopoulos give any hints), we may have to wait a little while before we actually see how truly committed Weiss is to all of these modern approaches.