A Look Back at Walt Weiss' First Season as Braves Manager

The Atlanta Braves crashed out of the postseason this week, failing to advance past the National League Division Series for a fourth straight time. Despite the way it ended against the Dodgers, there was still plenty to celebrate in Walt Weiss’ first season at the helm.

The Braves returned to the top of the National League East with near post-to-post dominance, and Weiss played a big role in that success. He returned to managing after serving as the team’s bench coach under Brian Snitker from 2018-25, and his 94 regular-season wins are the most of any Braves manager in franchise history.

After the club won just 76 games in 2025 and missed the postseason for the first time since 2018, the Weiss era started on a sour note.

The Braves suffered several brutal losses during or before spring training, with four starters going down with injuries at once, shortstop Ha-Seong Kim slipping on ice back home in Korea, and left fielder Jurickson Profar receiving a 162-game suspension for PEDs.

“(That) created opportunities for guys,” Weiss said. “And that was the message when it happened, that there’s going to be a lot of opportunities created, and it was up to them to step up and take advantage of it. And they did. A lot of guys, like I said, that weren’t on the radar made huge impacts.”

The club found its groove right away, winning 40 games by the end of May, weathering storms in June and August, and winning the division by six games. Along with the steady core, newcomers and unexpected contributors drove Weiss's first-year success.

Veterans Mauricio Dubón and Martín Pérez were on nobody’s radar coming into this season, but their careers found new life with the Braves, as did Tyler Mahle after the Braves acquired him at the deadline. Dubón was an afterthought with the Astros but emerged as a crucial utility player, playing left field, shortstop, and center field while bringing a clutch bat to the plate. Pérez, a non-roster invitee in the spring, forced his way into the starting rotation and flourished. Mahle became the most successful arm acquired this summer.

Chris Sale carried the staff, but Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes were cogs in the rotation. Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee, and Didier Fuentes held down the bullpen.

A lot of that came from the belief that Weiss had in these guys.

“If he doesn’t win Manager of the Year, I don’t know what the hell we’re looking at,” Dubón said. “He grabbed a bunch of misfits and turned them into the NLDS. We were a couple hits away from making it to the NLCS, and [it starts] with the confidence he brought for everybody.”

It wasn’t perfect, not by any means.

Austin Riley never came out of his season-long slump, Ronald Acuña missed 55 games and didn't look like the MVP-caliber player he is when healthy, and Matt Olson slumped in the second half after carrying the team through June, then the dismal playoff hitting that knocked them out against the Dodgers.

The pain is still raw, but there is plenty of good to take into year two of the Weiss era. New faces will fill the clubhouse as Dubón, Pérez, Kim, Mahle, and Raisel Iglesias enter free agency, and decisions loom on Profar (who returns from his PED suspension), Acuña, and Ozzie Albies (who both have club options). Some of those injured or rising pitchers (AJ Smith-Shawver, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hursten Waldrep, JR Ritchie, Spencer Strider, and Owen Murphy) will return to the rotation mix.

Decisions on those players, plus any offseason additions, will shape next season's challenges.

“A lot to feel good about,” Weiss said about this team moving into 2027. “Always try to get better. I don’t think there’re any perfect teams. So you’re always trying to get better. And I’m sure Alex (Anthopoulos) and his team will do that.”

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