So...what are y'all's best overall theories as to what's happened (and why) in both the micro and the macro, to our braves since our world series run?

I do think player leadership has played a role here and there, but it probably has more to do with losing key personnel. Wash and EY were brutal losses for a lot of these guys. And Snit - he’s still revered, but he’s just an old dude now. He’s not going to win you games with sharp decisions, which only compounds an already massive problem.
 
CyYoung31 said:
Nothing. They got better and better until last year when injuries hit. Now, the window is closing thanks to fast declines and a tightening payroll.
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I think the front office thought for some odd reason that no one was going to regress and everyone was going to stay healthy. Some of the regression has been steeper than anticipated, but that's the biggest reason. I think some thought 2023 was going to be the norm instead of what looks to be a bit of an aberration.

Injuries to key guys hasn't helped and organizational depth on the offensive side of the ledger is miserable. I'm starting to question the international approach because the high-bonus guys are being out-played by the low-bonus guys. Maybe that changes with Tornes.

Anthopoulos rolled extremely hot dice at the deadline in 2021 and everyone he acquired contributed big-time to the playoff run. I don't think the playoffs are a complete crap shoot, but Soler and Rosario got hot at the right time and there was enough pitching to piece together the win.
 
I think I have the solution.

We shouldn't play on Sundays (3-10), or Wednesdays. (3-9)
or day games (11-17)

We shouldnt play against the NL West (8-20)
or on national television (9-20)

We shouldnt play in 1-run games (11-20),
or 2-run games (3-8)

If we can avoid all of that moving forward, we'll be just fine.
 
Braves won 100+ games first two years after world series

They made playoffs last year despite injuries to two best players

They are having across the board down year this year which happens when guys get off to slow starts and start pressing.

I don’t think it’s more complicated than that.
 
I do think Harris and Albies have a better 2nd half and Profar gives us a good boost going forward. If Harris and Albies can turn things around then the whole season turns around.
 
chop2chip said:
Braves won 100+ games first two years after world series

They made playoffs last year despite injuries to two best players

They are having across the board down year this year which happens when guys get off to slow starts and start pressing.

I don’t think it’s more complicated than that.
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It usually isn’t, but people need to rationalize by attributing blame to this or that.
 
My thoughts are it has something to do with this: https://www.batterypower.com/2025/7/1/24459491/atlanta-braves-analysis-offense-lineup-aggressiveness

The new hitting coach is teaching a more patient approach, and some of the players following that approach are not better for it. If that's the case, it should be up to him to realize that and adjust the approach to fit the player...especially someone as completely lost as Harris.

This also got me thinking about why the offense tended to be so feast or famine in the past. If the approach of the entire offense is "guess what pitch is coming and hammer mistakes", then when they come across a pitcher who isn't executing or isn't prepared to exploit the hitters' aggression, the Braves offense opens a 2023-style can of whoop-ass on them. However, when a pitcher is executing, and is exploiting that aggressiveness, the offense vanishes because there are fewer mistakes to guess right on and punish. Since those types of games tend to be pitched more often in October, the Braves "guess and destroy mistakes" offense is easier to silence. As the league has understood more about their approach, they have learned to use that aggressiveness against them since 2023.

Someone has been saying it for a while..."the league adjusted to these hitters and they haven't been able to adjust back".

So the plan was to teach the Braves hitters to hit less like cavemen with clubs, and more like Chipper Jones..."professional hitters". Problem is, most of these guys aren't taking to that approach well at all, and the result is a lineup that can't even punish mistakes like they used to. The Hyers experiment was likely doomed based on the skillsets of the hitters on the roster.
 
Enscheff said:
My thoughts are it has something to do with this: https://www.batterypower.com/2025/7/1/24459491/atlanta-braves-analysis-offense-lineup-aggressiveness

The new hitting coach is teaching a more patient approach, and some of the players following that approach are not better for it. If that's the case, it should be up to him to realize that and adjust the approach to fit the player...especially someone as completely lost as Harris.

This also got me thinking about why the offense tended to be so feast or famine in the past. If the approach of the entire offense is "guess what pitch is coming and hammer mistakes", then when they come across a pitcher who isn't executing or isn't prepared to exploit the hitters' aggression, the Braves offense opens a 2023-style can of whoop-ass on them. However, when a pitcher is executing, and is exploiting that aggressiveness, the offense vanishes because there are fewer mistakes to guess right on and punish. Since those types of games tend to be pitched more often in October, the Braves "guess and destroy mistakes" offense is easier to silence. As the league has understood more about their approach, they have learned to use that aggressiveness against them since 2023.

Someone has been saying it for a while..."the league adjusted to these hitters and they haven't been able to adjust back".

So the plan was to teach the Braves hitters to hit less like cavemen with clubs, and more like Chipper Jones..."professional hitters". Problem is, most of these guys aren't taking to that approach well at all, and the result is a lineup that can't even punish mistakes like they used to. The Hyers experiment was likely doomed based on the skillsets of the hitters on the roster.
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This, in a nutshell, is my theory.

Having said that, and I could be wrong, but I don’t remember the pre-2024 Braves being as chase happy as you’re implying. Aggressive on pitches in the zone, yes. But I recall them getting their share of walks too.
 
The article I linked goes into just how aggressive they were.

They are swinging less now, and not doing damage when they do swing. At least previously they were doing damage when they guessed right. Now they aren't doing any damage ever...they're just terrible at all times.
 
Enscheff said:
The article I linked goes into just how aggressive they were.

They are swinging less now, and not doing damage when they do swing. At least previously they were doing damage when they guessed right. Now they aren't doing any damage ever...they're just terrible at all times.
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Before the fact and after the fact, what do you think about us having let Kevin Seitzer go?

Feels like the sorta overriding logic at the time was a cross between scapegoating and Kevin having dug his own grave by admitting that the dudes weren't listening to him.

But I'm just like... at the risk of being obvious, it's really difficult / next to impossible for me to put that on him, at all.
 
Mrs. Meta said:
Before the fact and after the fact, what do you think about us having let Kevin Seitzer go?

Feels like the sorta overriding logic at the time was a cross between scapegoating and Kevin having dug his own grave by admitting that the dudes weren't listening to him.

But I'm just like... at the risk of being obvious, it's really difficult / next to impossible for me to put that on him, at all.
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I recall Enscheff echoed mine and others here that firing Seitzer didn’t really make any sense, and felt like a knee-jerk reaction.

I also said that I didn’t think hitting coaches at the MLB level mattered as much as people made it out. Hyers and the results of a clear philosophy change has me questioning myself. Of course, Hyers is also not preaching anything that the front office isn’t signing off on either.
 
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