SAN ANTONIO – Right after the World Series ends and the offseason begins, the baseball world descends on one location for the General Managers Meetings. The site this time: The J.W. Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.
Executives from every team are present.
It gave us the opportunity to ask Tim Hyers’ former boss (Chris Young) and current boss (Alex Anthopoulos) about what he brings to Atlanta as the Braves’ hitting coach. Hyers, who lives in the Atlanta area, chose to be closer to his family after they chased him around baseball for years.
Young, the Rangers’ executive vice president and general manager, might not have expected to lose his hitting coach, but he isn’t shocked. One day, the Braves called Young to ask for permission to interview Hyers. He soon needed to hire a new hitting coach.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me in terms of the talent,” Young told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. “Tim said there weren’t many places, if any, that he would leave for, and Atlanta happened to be the one and they called. So, we couldn’t deny that, and we’re very happy for him. We’re gonna miss him, but we’re happy for him.”
In Hyers’ three seasons as Rangers hitting coach, his lineup scored the seventh most runs in the sport – third most in the American League. His offense ranked 15th with a .247 batting average and 14th with a .724 OPS. Of course, different factors go into this because it’s a three-year sample size. The Rangers, for example, were among baseball’s best offenses in 2023, but experienced a drop-off in 2024 – partially due to injuries, just like the Braves.
Over those three seasons with Hyers, the Rangers were 13th with a 22.5% strikeout rate and 13th with an 8.4% walk rate. In this span, Cleveland’s 19% strikeout rate and the Yankees’ 10.1% walk rate led all of baseball.
“Tim’s such a great human being,” Young said. “He’s such a great person. He’s just a really wonderful person to be around on a daily basis, so he creates a really positive environment for the hitters. He’s a very, very good coach in terms of the way he sees the game and understands people. He’s been in the game for a long time. That’s what’s made him successful everywhere he’s been and will continue to make him successful in Atlanta. We hate to lose him, but we’re so happy for Tim and (his wife) Kristin.”
Anthopoulos, Atlanta’s president of baseball operations and general manager, first crossed paths with Hyers when both worked for the Dodgers in 2016 and 2017 – Anthopoulos in the front office, Hyers as the assistant hitting coach. Anthopoulos said Hyers was “very well-liked and very well-respected.”
“He was highly thought of, did a very good job,” Anthopoulos told The AJC on Tuesday. “And then everywhere he went, his reputation was good, he had great results and great feedback – when he was with the Red Sox, likewise with the Rangers as well. I had a little familiarity with him, not a ton, but again, even beyond those two years – and it was a long time ago – his experiences and his success, and then getting a chance to talk to him and spend some time, he seemed like a great fit for us.”
Fit.
It’s a word Hyers used on a call with reporters about his new role. In the interview process, he wanted to see whether he was a fit with the Braves and could help them. The Braves’ work on Hyers included much more than talking to him.
“And I’d guess I’d say this, is that I’m not a big believer in the interview process being 100 percent of the evaluation,” Anthopoulos said. “It’s part of it, you need to do it. But I think all the work – the hours, the days, the months that he spent in clubhouses with players, with staffs, with managers, game experience, postseason, all those things, that’s where the work comes in on these guys. We’re not bringing in 30 candidates. We’re doing all the work beforehand and all the work on him is outstanding. You’re just looking to confirm some things, maybe to ask questions, maybe to fill in some gaps and some things you’re not sure about.
“But I think in a lot of these hires – no pun intended – you’re doing a ton of background work. Especially (for) someone that’s been at the big-league level for so long, in so many clubhouses, there’s just a lot of access to coaches, players, people that have been around him, that you can really have a good feel for what type of employee he would be.”
On that call with reporters, Hyers said he likens the 2024 Braves to the 2018 Red Sox. “I hope he’s right,” quipped Anthopoulos. That Red Sox group won the World Series. In his comparison, Hyers said that Boston club loved to swing – but could also impact the game with one swing. His job was to try to channel that so the hitters were smart about it.
This will be one task he’ll have with the Braves, who have aggressive hitters. They might strike out a lot, but they alter games with one swing. So, how can the Braves keep that trait without it detracting? Hyers emphasizes pregame preparation, swing decisions and movements in the batter’s box.
Multiple times on that call, Hyers mentioned simplicity. He wants to help hitters simplify everything.
“That’s the beauty of the game, that’s the art of the game is being able to simplify very complex things and give the hitters thoughts that are very complex but boil down to their simplest terms,” Young said. “Tim understands what hitters go through, he understands the ups and downs, the highs and lows. He’s very good at getting through to the human aspects of a player.”
In any conversation about a hitting coach, this must be said: There’s a reason there’s so much turnover among major-league hitting coaches. The job is difficult. They’re often blamed for factors out of their control. Sometimes, clubs need a new voice.
A hitting coach won’t solve everything.
The Braves, though, feel Hyers can help get the most out of their hitters.
“You’re trying to give your players the best resources and support possible,” Anthopoulos said. “That’s resources, that’s coaching and so on. And obviously, as a front office, we need to try to get good players to put on the field at the same time. I don’t view it as, ‘Well, this hitting coach is good for this philosophy.’ Players change, right? So, trades, signings, free agents, all that kind of stuff.
“We just think he’s an outstanding hitting coach. We’re excited to add him. But it wasn’t that we were looking for this type of philosophy or that type of philosophy, because I just don’t think you can be married to anything. It’s, who can make our hitters better? Who do we believe could help make our hitters better? Who could be the best resource for our hitters. And look, it’s hard. These jobs are hard for everybody. We felt that, this time, at this moment, this was the right fit for us.”
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