Kevin Seitzer Hired as Braves’ Hitting Coach

  I admit it:  the very first thought I had on hearing this news was “This is not the ex-Royals third baseman you’re looking for.”  That opinion has changed 180 degrees.

I’ll explain.

AFTERNOON UPDATE:  

  [I believe this is the Jose Castro we’re referring to in that announcement – I would expect him to continue working primarily with the minor league players.  The bulk of this story, therefore, will be about Kevin Seitzer.]  

About the Coach

 AS A PLAYER

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52-year-old

was selected by the Royals in the 11th round of the 1983 draft – making the majors in 1986 and ‘sticking’ a year later.  This made him a contemporary of

, and indeed he certainly hit like Brett for a while:  207 hits and 15 homers while hitting .323 in that rookie season… though few outside of baseball noticed thanks to the presence of teammate

.

Seitzer remained a solid hitter throughout his 12 year career (parts of 6 seasons with KC, 5 with MIL, 2 with CLE, and a half-season with Oakland) from 1986 to 1997.  During his final two seasons, he hit .386 and .268 in limited use with the Indians. Lifetime, he averaged .295 with a .375 OBP.

He never exceeded 79 strikeouts in any season (averaged about 50) and walked more often than he K’d.  Despite being a light hitter (74 lifetime homers), his career OPS+ was 111, and averaged an RBI for every 9.9 plate appearances.

Oddly enough, Seitzer finished his career wearing the same kind of batting helmet attachment that Jason Heyward sported in 2014 – the result of being hit in the face in both 1994 and 1995.

AS A COACH

Kevin has held 3 hitting coach positions:

• 2006 to mid-season 2007:  AZ Diamondbacks
• 2009 through 2012:  KC Royals
• 2014:  Toronto Blue Jays

Hiring Seitzer

Stealing a coach from Toronto after just one season – when it seemed that he would be returning to Toronto – is something of an eye-opener. But this hire makes all the sense in the world… for a lot of reasons:

• Let’s look at his history… who drafted him?  Oh – some general manager named… John Schuerholz.
• Let’s look at his career… who managed him? In 1996-97… some manager named… John Hart (which included division-winning years).

Toronto Blue Jays hitting coach

(25). Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports.

Yes – this is once again part of the “getting the band back together” work that Schuerholz and Hart are doing.  Heck, maybe Kevin’s middle name should be “John” (it’s Lee).   But there’s another key reason for hiring him – and for background, I’ll defer to a pair of knowledgeable Braves watchers:

I mentioned above his penchant for making contact:  walking a lot, striking out little.  These comments emphasize that point, and tells me that the entire offensive philosophy of baseball is about to change in Atlanta.

THE KIDS ARE COMING

Seitzer’s stats as a player are all about those of somebody like Tommy La Stella:  high walks, few strikeouts, high contact and OBP.  But we’ve got a lot of not-high-power prospects (like TLS) here/coming that could definitely benefit from a Seitzer approach:

• Andrelton Simmons – needs a new approach.  No way he should be swinging like he is, though hit .300 in the minors consistently.
• Philip Gosselin – also has a .300 bat potential in the majors.  Needs to find what worked at AAA in 2014.
• Christian Bethancourt – improved stroke payed great dividends in AA and AAA.  Shouldn’t take too much to get him “finished” as a major-league hitter, but strikeouts could be a problem.  Seitzer can help.
• Jose Peraza – the #1 prospect.  Spray hitter.  Under 10% strikeouts.  Big speed game, plus excellent defense.  Needs to walk more often to be a true leadoff threat.  But Seitzer will know this.  After all, he also played with Kenny Lofton.
• Kyle Wren.  Spray hitter.  Big speed game.  He walks enough, though strikes out more often. a refinement could make him another real threat.  His defense is already major-league ready.
• Kyle Kubitza.  Could develop some better power, though strikeouts (25%) are something of an issue.  His plate patience is legendary already – 15% walk rate.  He will need to hit those marginal pitches that he’s been watching – and then find a place to play defensively (too many errors at third base).
• There are others – such as Todd Cunningham, Tyler Pastornicky, and Joey Terdoslavich – who could also see a revival if this is a true change in direction toward OBP/AVG/Low-K hitting.  Such would fit their games better.

OUT WITH THE OLD?

Clearly, the Braves tried the approach of “more power – strikeouts aren’t relevant”.  Equally clearly, that philosophy did not work over the long haul.  At this point, Dan Uggla is already gone and the team has been quite public in its intention to rid themselves of B.J. Upton‘s bat – which itself changed from contact to power to whiffing over the past 6-7 years.

That would also seem to put other hitters like Justin Upton and Chris Johnson on notice.  Open memo to them: you may wish to consider short-term leases for your Atlanta digs. 

Equally damning to their chances of staying in Atlanta:  they are both very closely associated with the Wren philosophy of hitting… Martin Prado, Nick Ahmed and Brandon Drury were traded away in that deal – players that actually would more closely fit the contact hitting mold:  higher averages, fewer strikeouts, higher OBP.  

So…. How Quick Can This Turn-around Happen?

Ordinarily, I’d say such changes could take a couple of years or more, but there are some hopeful signs.

…and that’s with Juan Francisco and Colby Rasmus on the roster.

Obviously, Seitzer is not going to be a panacea for everybody (see Rasmus and Francisco), but even so, that Toronto roster only had 2 players exceeding 100 strikeouts this season.

Atlanta had 4 players with over 140 strikeouts in 2014.

Change is in the air.