NORTH PORT, Fla. — The 2023 Braves were in the discussion for the best offense in MLB history. When September rolled around, it seemed like it set records daily. The group featured the eventual MVP – outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., who produced the first 40-70 season – and the franchise’s single-season home run record holder in first baseman Matt Olson, among many others.
Among the team’s accomplishments: 307 homers, tying the 2019 Twins for single-season record. The Braves’ collective .501 slugging percentage was the best all-time and the only slugging percentage to exceed .500. The team led MLB with 947 runs, 1,543 hits, a .276 average and .344 on-base percentage. By weighted runs created plus (wRC+), the Braves’ offense matched the 1927 Yankees as best ever.
Imagine being the man overseeing it all. Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer, long considered one of the sport’s premier coaches, had the pleasure of instructing one of the better units in history.
The odds say the Braves won’t do it again. But they’re returning every starting position player except in left field, where they replaced Eddie Rosario with Jarred Kelenic. So while the 2024 Braves might not make a list of records, they certainly will have the chance to be baseball’s best offense again.
“I don’t make projections; we’re going to attack the daily grind, the process, the way we have every year,” Seitzer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ll try to get everybody feeling good and locked in and see if we can keep them that way. Last year was a really, really special year. You don’t see that very often.
“So do I expect that? No. Will I take it? Absolutely. But as far as the projections go, for Matty hitting 54 (home runs again), Ronnie doing what he did, it’s like – my whole mindset is just to get them in a good place and see where it ends up at the end.”
One reason for further excitement: outfielder Michael Harris II. After a poor start in which he was injured and hit .167 in May, Harris hit .326/.352/.535 from June until the season ended (“last year was a better year for me than the rookie year because I learned a lot more,” Harris said).
Harris has hit .346 (9-for-26) this spring. He’s hit three homers, all monstrous shots that add credence to the idea he’s due for his first 30-homer campaign.
“He’s in a really good place right now,” said Seitzer, who won Baseball America’s 2023 MLB coach-of-the-year honor. “He’s seeing the ball well, timing has been good, staying on off-speed pitches really nice. He’s just having good at-bats. Everything looks like it’s in slow motion for him. It’s where you want hitters to be.”
The newcomer Kelenic has had a spring the opposite of Harris. He’s 2-for-30, though he’s had some rotten luck in hammering balls at defenders. Seitzer spoke glowingly of Kelenic. “He’s coming (along) nicely, very nicely,” Seitzer said. “The results haven’t shown in the games like the quality of the at-bats have been for the last week.”
When discussing how well he knows his mainstay hitters, Seitzer also expressed eagerness to work with new players such as Kelenic.
“I love getting new guys in like Jarred,” Seitzer said. “He’s scuffled the last couple years, (but) for us to get that type of talent he could possibly be, (he’d be) another impact bat we’d have in the lineup. Losing Eddie, he had some great years for us, big hits for us. But getting Jarred in here, if we can get him turned around, he can possibly be as good as Eddie, if not better.”
The Braves had six position-player All-Stars last season, including their entire infield. Outside Kelenic, every Braves regular has worked with Seitzer for at least the past two seasons.
“All these guys are like my own kids,” Seitzer said. “And I know them like my own kids. It’s like I can tell when something is bugging them. I can tell when something doesn’t feel right, they don’t feel right, know what questions to ask them. It’s really great.”
