JohnSp3 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) According to DOB and Mark Bowman the Braves have hired Kevin Seitzer. He spent 4 years with the Royals and last year with the Blue Jays. He preaches contact hitting and using the whole field. Imagine that, a hitting coach in Atlanta that preaches hitting not power! I'm happy with this so far. Edited October 27, 2014 by JohnSp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 So, like Walker did as well? Wonderful.Hopefully a new voice will help, but the problem last season was the lack of home runs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnSp3 Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 So, like Walker did as well? Wonderful.Hopefully a new voice will help, but the problem last season was the lack of home runs.Walker preached power and that didn't work for the Braves. Plus lack of homeruns didn't hurt the Royals this year. Homeruns should be a bonus, not what hitters strive for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknøwn Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 According to DOB he's all about just making contact and was expected to return to Toronto but Hart stole him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHEC Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Walker preached power and that didn't work for the Braves. Plus lack of homeruns didn't hurt the Royals this year. Homeruns should be a bonus, not what hitters strive for.Er, no he didn't. Walker may not have worked for the Braves, but I see nothing about him "preaching power". Mostly he talked about hitting the ball where it was pitched, including going opposite field if necessary, using the whole field, and not "giving away" at-bats. And yes, the lack of power DID hurt this Royals. Their offense this season was below major league average. However, it was good enough when backed by the best defense in baseball and well above-average pitching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransack Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 You can't coach hitting home runs. What you coach is swinging at good pitches that you can hit and then having the mechanics to drive the ball. The home runs come when you make good choices and square the bat up on the ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) You can't coach hitting home runs. What you coach is swinging at good pitches that you can hit and then having the mechanics to drive the ball. The home runs come when you make good choices and square the bat up on the ball.Exactly. And the Braves simply made too many bad choices when swinging the bat. The Braves swung at 33% of pitches outside the strike zone last season. Not surprisingly, this lead to the third worst contact rate in the majors at 76.1%. This isn't good, but during the season the coaching staff purposefully said that they were encouraging the hitters to cut down on their swings but maintain aggressiveness. What this lead to was a lower walk rate and power nearly disappearing, which in turn lead to the offense pretty much evaporating.In other words, the coaching staff started coaching against the strengths of the team. I hope Seitzer does well and the team responds, but I'm not encouraged. Edited October 28, 2014 by K26dp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 In addition to Seitzer, the Braves have announced the hiring of Jose Castro as the assistant hitting coach. Castro, 56, has worked as a minor league hitting coach or coordinator with the Expos, Marlins, Padres and Mariners from 1990-2010 and served as the Cubs’ quality assurance coach last season.The Braves have hired Kevin Seitzer as their new hitting coach, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reports. The hiring could be officially announced as soon as today. Seitzer served as the Blue Jays‘ hitting coach in 2014, meaning Toronto now has a vacancy to fill. Seitzer also previously worked as a hitting coach with the Royals (2009-12) and Diamondbacks (2007). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libid21 Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Meh, he's a contact hitting coach. I wish we went after someone who stressed on-base percentage. Or...Chipper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknøwn Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Braves went after Chipper he turned it down saying he isnt ready to get back in uniform. However its being reported this morning Chipper is basically becoming part time coach. He offered to work with guys one on one and come help at times. The Braves accepted that offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngbloodz Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Braves went after Chipper he turned it down saying he isnt ready to get back in uniform. However its being reported this morning Chipper is basically becoming part time coach. He offered to work with guys one on one and come help at times. The Braves accepted that offer.thank you Jesus. Bout time we got some good news Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Homer the Brave Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 It's ok to fix swing flaws, but the big problem on this team is hitting philosophy. That comes from the manager. Fredi is a Cox disciple. Cox's philosophy was wait on the 3 run homer. Plus, I don't trust Fredi to make the good decisions a manager has to make employing small ball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I love it when people act like 3-run homers are a bad thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ugadawg Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I love it when people act like 3-run homers are a bad thing.I absolutely love the 3 run HR. I just treat it more as a bonus and adrenaline rush. I like consistent baseball more though. I talked to a youth team not long ago about hitting base hits and the value of hitting to the opposite fields. I ask them what does 10 hits equal. I got a lot of answers but not the one I was looking for. 7 runs and the bases loaded was the point I was trying to make for them.To me a great team has a good mix of base hit, oppo hitting, gap power, clutch hitting (I just made ji skin crawl), and then a mix of HR. To me Freeman it a good example of this type of hitter but we also need speed to steal, and for lord sakes LEARN HOW TO BUNT!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I love it when people act like 3-run homers are a bad thing.It is when that's your only way of scoring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 It is when that's your only way of scoring.At no point are other options of scoring not available. But having the home run option available is a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 At no point are other options of scoring not available. But having the home run option available is a good thing.If you can't make good contact or even any contact for that matter then you're not scoring. Give me a singles and doubles, stolen base speed team over a homerun or nothing team any day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 If you can't make good contact or even any contact for that matter then you're not scoring. Give me a singles and doubles, stolen base speed team over a homerun or nothing team any day.There's no such thing as a homerun or nothing team. Also, to hit a home run, by definition you need to make contact.Give me a singles and doubles and stolen base speed and home run and walk team, and I'll have the '98 Yankees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 There's no such thing as a homerun or nothing team. Also, to hit a home run, by definition you need to make contact.Give me a singles and doubles and stolen base speed and home run and walk team, and I'll have the '98 Yankees.What the Braves have been the last two years has been homerun or nothing. Homeruns are nice but give me a team that can create runs with speed and I'll be happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WOR Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 What the Braves have been the last two years has been homerun or nothing. Homeruns are nice but give me a team that can create runs with speed and I'll be happier.Are we not getting slower though? Heyward to nick is a big drop. Justin to whoever probably will be. Is BJ going to be our only real base stealer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 What the Braves have been the last two years has been homerun or nothing. Homeruns are nice but give me a team that can create runs with speed and I'll be happier.I don't care how they are scored, I want the team to score enough runs to win. Saying "I don't want homeruns" is like saying "I like offense, but I don't like touchdowns, give me a bunch of field goals and safeties". It will get you there, maybe, but it's a lot harder. As a reminder, the Braves scored 4.25 runs/game in 2013, one of the best offenses in baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I don't care how they are scored, I want the team to score enough runs to win. Saying "I don't want homeruns" is like saying "I like offense, but I don't like touchdowns, give me a bunch of field goals and safeties". It will get you there, maybe, but it's a lot harder. As a reminder, the Braves scored 4.25 runs/game in 2013, one of the best offenses in baseball.The Braves walked a ton in 2013 too. Not so much in 2014 and the homeruns dropped and the offense was the 29th best in baseball. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K26dp Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 The Braves walked a ton in 2013 too. Not so much in 2014 and the homeruns dropped and the offense was the 29th best in baseball.You got that right. The Braves crapped the bed in 2014. In part, I believe it's because they told their high-home run, high-walk, high-strikeout hitters to shorten their swings and try to make more contact. The result was fewer homeruns, fewer walks, fewer strikeouts, and fewer runs scored.Their philosophy was bass ackwards from the talent of their personnel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconsfan567 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 You got that right. The Braves crapped the bed in 2014. In part, I believe it's because they told their high-home run, high-walk, high-strikeout hitters to shorten their swings and try to make more contact. The result was fewer homeruns, fewer walks, fewer strikeouts, and fewer runs scored.Their philosophy was bass ackwards from the talent of their personnel.Totally agree. You have to play to your team's strengths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.