For the most part, it is hard to have complaints about the culture change in the Braves locker room since the departure of Fredi Gonzalez. Today, Alex Anthopolous awarded every member of the coaching staff a two-year extension, except for pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, who will not be retained.
Rest of staff is back on 2-year deals. https://t.co/wK8elgEs57
— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) October 15, 2018
Over the weekend, we discussed a Jon Heyman report that Snitker would be retained. That is now official, and Snitker will also have a club option for 2021 in his contract. Well deserved, Snit.
It seems Alex Anthopolous made all the right decisions regarding the other guys. Kevin Seitzer‘s approach has gelled with players, and Walt Weiss seems to be a great asset as a bench coach. The players seem to love Eric Young, and the Braves will still have Ron Washington around to work the infielders to death, bright and early. The Braves are blessed to have so much managerial experience in their dugout, and perhaps that is a reason why they overachieved in 2018.
The odd man out here is Chuck Hernandez. It had already been reported earlier in the season that Anthoplous had considered firing Hernandez when he took over, but Hernandez committed to using a more analytic-based approach. It is unclear whether this adaption did not go as planned or Anthopolous is simply not pleased with his work. Despite great progression from his starters, it seems as if Hernandez is now the scapegoat for a Braves team that gave out walks like candy on Halloween this past season, and this was exposed in the playoffs. The Braves will now search for a new pitching coach in hopes of cutting down on the free passes.