Walt Weiss talks Braves’ new-look coaching staff

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Braves have almost an entirely new coaching staff under manager Walt Weiss, a significant change after so many fruitful years of continuity.

Weiss, who was promoted to succeed Brian Snitker following the club’s monthlong managerial search, spoke highly of his new-look group when asked about the individuals during his media availability at the winter meetings Tuesday.

“Really good staff,” Weiss said. “Look, we had a really good staff, and I think it took some of these guys being available for those changes to happen, you know what I mean? I think everyone was very comfortable with the staff coming back. But there were some guys who became available that were really enticing, and we ended up getting them in the fold.

“But (president of baseball operations) Alex (Anthopoulos) and I talked a lot through all that. And it’s not easy putting together a staff. There’s a lot to think about. There’s a lot of boxes that have to be checked, and there’s several people that have to check all those boxes, when you’re looking at candidates.

“The game is a lot more collaborative now, as we know. The days of the manager just naming his staff like 40 years ago, 30 years ago, those days are over. And rightfully so, because there’s so many people involved in the day-to-day now. The guys upstairs. Alex’s team. The game-planning stuff. So, the people we bring in have to fit the entire group.”

Here’s what Weiss specifically said about several of the team’s new hires:

On pitching coach Jeremy Hefner:

“He’s a sharp guy, man. I think the sweet spot in this game — we’re in the age of information and analytics and technology — is the guy or the guys that have feel, that have done it and understand the tech, understand the info, know how to use it. And Hefner’s the poster child for that. Really good feel. Pitched in the big leagues. He’s worked his way to the top. He’s dealt with — he’s been in one of the biggest markets, dealt with Hall of Famers, some pretty big personalities. And everybody raves about him.

“The thing that makes me feel good as a manager, every time we announced one of those coaching hires, my phone blew up from people who knew him, said, ‘Wow, you guys are putting together an unbelievable staff.’ So that’s very reassuring.”

On first base coach Antoan Richardson:

“Once a guy like Antoan became available, things changed. I saw the impact he had with the Mets. I think they were 30th in sprint speed and fifth in stolen bases. That math doesn’t add up unless you have somebody that’s making a big difference, and that was Antoan. We feel like there’s some low-hanging fruit there with our club, not that we’re built to do that necessarily, especially once (outfielder) Ronald (Acuña Jr.) stopped running last year when he was playing a little more careful.

“But there’s some opportunity there to create some things on the offensive end. And I think Antoan is really going to help that. He’s passionate about it. I think he’s going to get our guys to be passionate about it. So that’s an exciting hire, and that’s an exciting part of our club that I think there’s some low-hanging fruit there.”