Determined to get more from their hitters in 2012, the Braves didn’t just hire Greg Walker as their new hitting coach, they got him an assistant.
Walker, an ex-White Sox hitting coach, was hired to replace fired Braves hitting coach Larry Parrish, and Scott Fletcher was hired for a hybrid role as assistant hitting coach — a new position for the Braves — and advance scout.
Braves general manager Frank Wren said he and manager Fredi Gonzalez agreed the Walker-Fletcher partnership would give the Braves a “dynamic” tandem for instructing hitters in the improved approach that Braves officials expect.
Wren said they whittled a list of more than 20 candidates to five, then interviewed three before deciding they had their man.
“We wanted someone who had recent major league experience in this role,” Wren said of Walker, the second candidate interviewed, “and that had a reputation for understanding the swing and an ability to communicate. Ability to communicate was a real big factor. And, finally, a philosophy that matched what we want our hitters doing going forward. Greg epitomized all three.”
Walker, a Douglas native who still makes his home there, was hired after 8 1/2 seasons as White Sox hitting coach.
Last season, Chicago ranked eighth in the 14-team American League in average (.252), seventh in on-base percentage (.319) and 11th in on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.706), down from sixth in OPS (.752) in 2010. They were 11th in the AL in runs in 2011 and seventh in 2010.
Since Walker became hitting coach in 2003, the White Sox ranked third in the majors in home runs (1,791) and seventh in slugging percentage (.430).
“It’s pretty humbling that the team you grew up with trusts you to do a real important job with them,” Walker said of being hired by the Braves.
The Coffee High School graduate played parts of nine seasons as a first baseman and designated hitter, all with the White Sox except part of one with Baltimore. Walker was a .260 hitter with a .326 OBP, 113 home runs and 444 RBIs in 855 games.
He said it was a lifelong dream to be in the Braves organization.
The other significant development Friday was news that Braves would join the growing ranks of teams to pull advance scouts off the road and instead use video to do the job in-house. Highly regarded advance scout Bob Johnson becomes a special assistant to the GM.
Wren thinks that Fletcher’s new hybrid position will allow the Braves to view more games played by upcoming opponents while also giving them a second coach to help hitters and notice more quickly what opponents are trying to do to get those hitters out.
Wren said six to 10 other teams have an assistant hitting coach, though some don’t have that title. Mike Gellinger served as Walker’s assistant hitting coach in Chicago.
Walker was consistently praised by Paul Konerko for his work with the slugging first baseman, but drew criticism for the regression of former Georgia Bulldogs star Gordon Beckham and for Adam Dunn’s career-worst 2011 season after he signed a huge free-agent contract.
Former Braves catching prospect Tyler Flowers, traded to the White Sox in December 2008, praised Walker for working with him to revamp his swing during a September 2010 call-up. Flowers thinks Walker will work well with Braves slugger Jason Heyward.
After hitting .220 with 16 homers and a .334 OBP in 346 at-bats at Triple-A Charlotte in 2010, Flowers hit .261 with 15 homers and a .390 OBP in 222 at-bats at Charlotte in 2011 to earn his first extended major league stint.
“I’ve learned a lot from him,” Flowers said. “I attribute a lot of my success this past season to him. They brought me up in September 2010, and it basically turned into a month of me working with Greg Walker, just sort of revamping my swing.
“We had a good relationship, talking to each other and communicating where I could understand what he was saying and he could understand what I was feeling.”
Heyward’s second-season struggles played a part in Parrish getting fired, and the Braves wanted the next hitting coach to have a plan to get Heyward and others back on track.
“I’m still good friends with Jason,” said Flowers, a Marietta native who has known Heyward since they were kids. “Him and Walker, I think that’s a good matchup. Jason’s always been open-minded guy, it’s just a matter of translating instruction to what he does. He has a little different swing than most guys, but at same time he has more power than most guys.”
Fletcher, 53, was an infielder for 16 major-league seasons and had served as a roving instructor in the Colorado Rockies organization. He lives in the Atlanta area and has a son, Brian, who’s a Royals minor leaguer and played youth baseball with Heyward.
Scott Fletcher has seen Heyward play since he was 12. Wren said he didn’t know of that relationship before interviewing Fletcher, and that it had nothing to do with hiring him.
The Braves’ offense slipped significantly in Parrish’s only season as hitting coach, and their situational hitting was cited by Wren as the team’s biggest weakness.
