Tim Hyers will be hired as the Braves' hitting coach in 2024

ATLANTA — A year after helping the Rangers win a World Series title, Tim Hyers is coming home to lead the Braves' offense.

Hyers was announced as the Braves' new hitting coach on Thursday. The 53-year-old suburban Atlanta native has held the same role for the Rangers for the past three seasons. He won a World Series at the end of two of his seven seasons as a major league hitting coach (Red Sox, 2018).

The 2023 Braves became the first team in AL/NL history to post a batting average above .500. The powerhouse hit an MLB record with 307 home runs and set a modern franchise record with 947 runs scored. This season was a different story, with five position players from the Opening Day roster missing at least two months.

Hyers will oversee a lineup that will benefit from the return of 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr., who underwent season-ending knee surgery after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on May 26. Austin Riley will also be back after missing the final six months of last season after suffering a broken right hand.

The Braves' 2025 roster includes Acuña, Riley, Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna, all of whom received top-10 MVP votes the past two seasons. Ozzie Albies and 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II add to the lineup's star power.

Hyers will be tasked with helping 2023 All-Star catcher Sean Murphy recover from the injury-plagued .636 OPS he posted this year. But the attacking coach's biggest challenge may be his attempt to be the guy who gets Jarred Kelenic right.

Kelenic hit 15 home runs and posted a .679 OPS across 449 plate appearances. The 25-year-old has proven that he is a capable fourth outfielder. But after spending about $17 million to get the chance to control him for five years through a trade with the Mariners in December 2023, the Braves are hoping he starts to fulfill the potential he had, when he was selected in the first round by the Mets in 2018 (No. 6 overall) and one of the game's top prospects in Seattle's system.

Hyers attended Newton High School, located about 30 miles east of downtown Atlanta, and was taken by the Blue Jays in the second round of the 1990 MLB Draft. His big league career included 133 games in four seasons for the Padres (1994-95), Tigers ('96) and Marlins ('99).

Alex Anthopoulos, the Braves' president of baseball operations, was in the Los Angeles front office when Hyers was the Dodgers' assistant hitting coach from 2016 to 2017.

Hyers also crossed paths with Braves star Chris Sale when he was Boston's hitting coach from 2018-21. The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series.