Braves’ success attributed to manager Walt Weiss

The Atlanta Braves have one of the best overall records in Major League Baseball, along with the usual suspects: The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. A large part of Atlanta’s success this season is due to the way the games are being managed by a former player, coach, and baseball lifer. 

In his first season and through his first 30 games as manager of the Braves, former Major League All-Star shortstop Walt Weiss has been pushing the right buttons and then some. The former manager of the Colorado Rockies (283-365 in four seasons), Weiss, had been in the Braves organization for over seven years before he was hired as the replacement for Brian Snitker following the World Series-winning manager’s retirement at the conclusion of the 2025 season. 

The hiring of Weiss was initially seen as a typical Braves move: to stay in the family under the Bobby Cox tree. These days, it’s looking more like the best move. 

On Tuesday night at Truist Park, the Braves were hosting the Detroit Tigers in the first of a three-game series before they left home for a nine-game road swing in Colorado, Seattle, and Los Angeles against former Braves star Freddie Freeman and the Dodgers. In the fifth inning, with the Braves ahead 2-0 and the Tigers threatening with two on and two out, Weiss left Braves starter Martin Perez in the game. Given the Braves’ bullpen’s performance this season, it would have made sense to give Perez a spell, but Weiss trusted the veteran. 

Then Weiss got youngster Didier Fuentes into the game and was able to give time on the mound with the Braves ahead 2-0. Fuentes pitched two innings without giving up a hit or an earned run before being replaced on the mound by Tyler Kinley for the eighth inning.

After the game, Weiss was complimentary about Fuentes, who he said would remain with the team through this series instead of being sent back down to Gwinnett.

“He did a heck of a job for us,” Weiss said. “He’s been really good for us and helped us win a game tonight.”

The same has gone with the decisions Weiss has made with the lineup this season. The way Weiss has moved Michael Harris II up in the lineup into the fifth slot from the bottom third of the order, and how he has stuck with first-year Braves outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, who had been in a prolonged slump before he got two hits and an RBI on Tuesday. 

After several games this season, Weiss told the media that Yastrzemski was playing hard and taking good cuts. Weiss said he would find his way. This season, Yastrzemski has batted in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth spots in the lineup, but Weiss wouldn’t give up on him despite having other alternatives for left field. Yastrzemski batted ninth against the Tigers and had one of his most productive games of the season during the Braves’ 5-2 win.

On sticking with Yastrzemski, Weiss said, “Yaz is a really smart guy, and he understands his swing. He’s going to be alright,” and “He’s doing the work.”

Weiss is pushing all of the right buttons at the moment, and in true Weiss, he won’t take any credit for the Braves having won three times as many games as they did last year at this time. 

Even when Weiss made the move to pinch-hit Kyle Farmer for regular DH Dom Smith after one at-bat, it worked out. Farmer, a native Atlantan, got in the scorebook with a single off Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton in the eighth inning. “I don’t typically pinch-hit that early,” Weiss said.

The Braves are winning games in all sorts of ways this season.

“That was a good win,” said Weiss. “We’re playing well. There’s been a good vibe from the beginning.”

Blame it on Weiss.

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