<img alt="St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1EGblxDYBab3jHfTvGs_Vd3m5V0=/0x0:8640x5760/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73645993/2162058702.0.jpg">
Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
The long-time hitting coach spoke about his time with Atlanta and his feelings on his firing from the organization. Former Atlanta Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer spoke with the Athletic’s David O’Brien about his dismissal from the organization early today. The surprising firings of Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes and catching coach Sal Fasano came days after various members of the team’s leadership provided feedback to the media that the entirety of the team’s 2024 coaching staff would be invited back for the 2025 season.
Seitzer, who had been with the Braves for the past 10 seasons and was the 2023 Baseball America MLB Coach of the Year, provided numerous insights on the personal and professional struggles he endured during the 2024 season.
For the full details in the insightful interview, you can read the link above, but a few notable items that came out of the piece included a significant medical issue that Seitzer’s wife went through during the 2024 season, which caused Seitzer to miss time with the team during the season. Thankfully for Seitzer and his family, his wife has fully recovered.
On the field, Seitzer called in the hardest of his career. His believes is that the new hitting coach that is hired will have to work to address the mental aspects of the players performance as he said he was not able to prevent the hitters from pressing and trying to do too much to make up from the spate of injuries that impacted the team’s position players throughout the season.
On his firing, Seitzer told O’Brien that he had, “ ... no ill will towards the Braves, and I’ve always been thankful for every day I had an opportunity to have a major-league uniform on. We had a whole lot of success, won a World Series. I couldn’t be more thankful to Alex (Anthopoulos) and the Braves for having me around this long.”
O’Brien and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman both posted that they Braves are expected to replace both hitting coaches but not fill the catching coach position.
The Braves will hire two hitting coaches. They will not fill the catching coach spot that was created for Fasano. https://t.co/tVu8lIu5uN— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 10, 2024
This is a major and unexpected development heading into the off-season for a team that, when healthy, is one of the best in the National League.
As for Seitzer, who is 63, he doesn’t know if he will continue his MLB coaching career.
<img alt="St. Louis Cardinals v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1EGblxDYBab3jHfTvGs_Vd3m5V0=/0x0:8640x5760/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73645993/2162058702.0.jpg">
Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images
The long-time hitting coach spoke about his time with Atlanta and his feelings on his firing from the organization. Former Atlanta Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer spoke with the Athletic’s David O’Brien about his dismissal from the organization early today. The surprising firings of Seitzer, assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes and catching coach Sal Fasano came days after various members of the team’s leadership provided feedback to the media that the entirety of the team’s 2024 coaching staff would be invited back for the 2025 season.
Seitzer, who had been with the Braves for the past 10 seasons and was the 2023 Baseball America MLB Coach of the Year, provided numerous insights on the personal and professional struggles he endured during the 2024 season.
For the full details in the insightful interview, you can read the link above, but a few notable items that came out of the piece included a significant medical issue that Seitzer’s wife went through during the 2024 season, which caused Seitzer to miss time with the team during the season. Thankfully for Seitzer and his family, his wife has fully recovered.
On the field, Seitzer called in the hardest of his career. His believes is that the new hitting coach that is hired will have to work to address the mental aspects of the players performance as he said he was not able to prevent the hitters from pressing and trying to do too much to make up from the spate of injuries that impacted the team’s position players throughout the season.
On his firing, Seitzer told O’Brien that he had, “ ... no ill will towards the Braves, and I’ve always been thankful for every day I had an opportunity to have a major-league uniform on. We had a whole lot of success, won a World Series. I couldn’t be more thankful to Alex (Anthopoulos) and the Braves for having me around this long.”
O’Brien and MLB.com’s Mark Bowman both posted that they Braves are expected to replace both hitting coaches but not fill the catching coach position.
The Braves will hire two hitting coaches. They will not fill the catching coach spot that was created for Fasano. https://t.co/tVu8lIu5uN— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 10, 2024
This is a major and unexpected development heading into the off-season for a team that, when healthy, is one of the best in the National League.
As for Seitzer, who is 63, he doesn’t know if he will continue his MLB coaching career.
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