I’ve seen Kevin Seitzer and the Braves’ ‘offensive approach’ criticized a lot recently. So I actually looked at the numbers behind the approach – in-zone and out-of-zone swing and whiff rates, contact quality, etc. – to analyze how the Braves’ 2024 approach differed from the 2023 approach. Y’know, the one that led to one of the better offenses in the last half century. For those looking for 2022 and earlier numbers, FanGraphs’ leaderboards and Baseball Savant’s Statcast Search are free and easy to use!
One thing I want to say on top of what’s in the article: I just don’t particularly value the thoughts of old-time players – even good ones – when they’re on podcasts. Anyone who thinks that the fact that someone was a Hall of Fame hitter means they have good ideas on how to put together a modern offense has never heard Alex Rodriguez call a baseball game. Chipper likewise doesn’t care what I have to say – even though I’ve got numbers and he’s got vibes – and that’s fine. Personally, I didn’t think it was particularly classy of him to publicly criticize the coaches’ approach – especially when he kept his mouth shut when the Braves rode the same approach to 100-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
All I’ve really got to say about this article is thank you. I really appreciate you being around to put in more thought, research, and effort into sharing the facts than I’m willing to. Good stuff!
Yeah ill continue to criticize the approach. Fire seitzer.
Thank you for this. The rational voice that we need to hear, not that I think enough people will listen, but it’s great information to get out there.
Thank you. I guarantee you if we cut Seitz at least a dozen teams would be interested
I’d say that, in terms of pitching adjusting to the Braves, having a considerable amount of your lineup hurt helps the pitching. Players that previously might have been given better pitching because the guy behind them was a dangerous guy too didn’t have that guarantee this year. Pitchers knew that more of the lineup wasn’t good and could wait for them. Could the Braves have tried adjusting their approach? Maybe. But to wholesale change batting approach halfway through the season seems to be an easier-said-than-done thing.
The Yankees and dodgers were tops in HRs and walks. It can be done. You don’t have to sacrifice one area for another. The Braves have swing and miss guys and that’s ok. But hitters don’t get on base enough. They chase a lot. Harris is supposed to set the table as the lead off hitter. He doesn’t walk enough. Then you have Albies, a notorious free swinger in the two hole. This affects the guys behind as they likely get less fastballs, or because Harris/Albies don’t get on base more and use their speed, can’t get in the pitchers head and cause him to make more mistakes that Riley/Olson/Ozuna can take advantage of. Ronnie did that last year and the results were apparent. Just sucks that Harris and Albies aren’t willing to get on base more.
The free swinging philosophy needs to change. Also, by walking more, pitchers are probably gonna throw more strikes. If not, more guys on base will pay off in the long run.
That’s all I want to see next season. A larger focus of getting on base.
You’ll never convince me they didn’t mess with the balls this year. The amount of baseballs the Braves ripped the cover off of only to have them die at the warning track was immeasurable.
After everything. Injuries, waiver pickups and Gwinnett shuttle players. We still made the playoffs. Anyone who thinks we should fire any of the coaches, are delusional.
I would wager a decent chunk of change that Seitz is in charge of implementing our hitting philosophy not the mastermind. That seems like it comes from Alex’s office, not the dugout. Just look at roster construction, we prioritize guys who hit the ball hard not the soft hitting OBP guys. Sure every now and again a Soler comes along who does both but guys who do both are elite hitters and it’s very difficult to make an entire roster of both.
So long story short, in pretty much every way imaginable, the Braves have had just about the most absolutely rotten luck you can possibly have this year.
Your stuff is always refreshing to read. Im glad someone did a comparison here.
He’s been there a good while and only this year did we seem to completely forget how to hit,if anything I blame the players,sooo many damn balls right down the middle that we missed and it just doesn’t make sense,maybe the way Olsen hit last year hurt him?,this year he was obviously trying something different that didn’t work for him at all,and again just so many opportunities that last year we would have destroyed it really seems like an falloff that needs to be studied
The problem with our approach being exactly the same is that that approach clearly isn’t working. Even with key injuries, we had a lineup that massively underperformed.
Seitzer is obviously talented but it seemed like we never made key adjustments to fix ourselves, and I refuse to blame our failure on “bad luck” over 162 games. Bad luck is a good excuse in the short run, but in the long run skill wins out, and we did not see that.
I’m not saying fire Seiter at all, but he needs to adapt a bit. Would like to see us work counts better and strike out less. 18 K’s and 0 walks against the Padres in game 1 is inexcusable.
Tell the team that small ball is okay instead of the home run or bust mentality
16 comments
I’ve seen Kevin Seitzer and the Braves’ ‘offensive approach’ criticized a lot recently. So I actually looked at the numbers behind the approach – in-zone and out-of-zone swing and whiff rates, contact quality, etc. – to analyze how the Braves’ 2024 approach differed from the 2023 approach. Y’know, the one that led to one of the better offenses in the last half century. For those looking for 2022 and earlier numbers, FanGraphs’ leaderboards and Baseball Savant’s Statcast Search are free and easy to use!
One thing I want to say on top of what’s in the article: I just don’t particularly value the thoughts of old-time players – even good ones – when they’re on podcasts. Anyone who thinks that the fact that someone was a Hall of Fame hitter means they have good ideas on how to put together a modern offense has never heard Alex Rodriguez call a baseball game. Chipper likewise doesn’t care what I have to say – even though I’ve got numbers and he’s got vibes – and that’s fine. Personally, I didn’t think it was particularly classy of him to publicly criticize the coaches’ approach – especially when he kept his mouth shut when the Braves rode the same approach to 100-win seasons in 2022 and 2023.
All I’ve really got to say about this article is thank you. I really appreciate you being around to put in more thought, research, and effort into sharing the facts than I’m willing to. Good stuff!
Yeah ill continue to criticize the approach. Fire seitzer.
Thank you for this. The rational voice that we need to hear, not that I think enough people will listen, but it’s great information to get out there.
Thank you. I guarantee you if we cut Seitz at least a dozen teams would be interested
I’d say that, in terms of pitching adjusting to the Braves, having a considerable amount of your lineup hurt helps the pitching. Players that previously might have been given better pitching because the guy behind them was a dangerous guy too didn’t have that guarantee this year. Pitchers knew that more of the lineup wasn’t good and could wait for them. Could the Braves have tried adjusting their approach? Maybe. But to wholesale change batting approach halfway through the season seems to be an easier-said-than-done thing.
The Yankees and dodgers were tops in HRs and walks. It can be done. You don’t have to sacrifice one area for another. The Braves have swing and miss guys and that’s ok. But hitters don’t get on base enough. They chase a lot. Harris is supposed to set the table as the lead off hitter. He doesn’t walk enough. Then you have Albies, a notorious free swinger in the two hole. This affects the guys behind as they likely get less fastballs, or because Harris/Albies don’t get on base more and use their speed, can’t get in the pitchers head and cause him to make more mistakes that Riley/Olson/Ozuna can take advantage of. Ronnie did that last year and the results were apparent. Just sucks that Harris and Albies aren’t willing to get on base more.
The free swinging philosophy needs to change. Also, by walking more, pitchers are probably gonna throw more strikes. If not, more guys on base will pay off in the long run.
That’s all I want to see next season. A larger focus of getting on base.
You’ll never convince me they didn’t mess with the balls this year. The amount of baseballs the Braves ripped the cover off of only to have them die at the warning track was immeasurable.
After everything. Injuries, waiver pickups and Gwinnett shuttle players. We still made the playoffs. Anyone who thinks we should fire any of the coaches, are delusional.
I would wager a decent chunk of change that Seitz is in charge of implementing our hitting philosophy not the mastermind. That seems like it comes from Alex’s office, not the dugout. Just look at roster construction, we prioritize guys who hit the ball hard not the soft hitting OBP guys. Sure every now and again a Soler comes along who does both but guys who do both are elite hitters and it’s very difficult to make an entire roster of both.
So long story short, in pretty much every way imaginable, the Braves have had just about the most absolutely rotten luck you can possibly have this year.
Your stuff is always refreshing to read. Im glad someone did a comparison here.
He’s been there a good while and only this year did we seem to completely forget how to hit,if anything I blame the players,sooo many damn balls right down the middle that we missed and it just doesn’t make sense,maybe the way Olsen hit last year hurt him?,this year he was obviously trying something different that didn’t work for him at all,and again just so many opportunities that last year we would have destroyed it really seems like an falloff that needs to be studied
The problem with our approach being exactly the same is that that approach clearly isn’t working. Even with key injuries, we had a lineup that massively underperformed.
Seitzer is obviously talented but it seemed like we never made key adjustments to fix ourselves, and I refuse to blame our failure on “bad luck” over 162 games. Bad luck is a good excuse in the short run, but in the long run skill wins out, and we did not see that.
I’m not saying fire Seiter at all, but he needs to adapt a bit. Would like to see us work counts better and strike out less. 18 K’s and 0 walks against the Padres in game 1 is inexcusable.
Tell the team that small ball is okay instead of the home run or bust mentality
Mets beat the Phillies yall
Vanderbilt beat Alabama too lmao