![\"ATLANTA,](\"https:\/\/platform.batterypower.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/22\/2026\/10\/gettyimages-2297870530.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 01: JR Ritchie #60, Michael Harris II #23, Brewer Hicklen #53, Kyle Farmer #15, Mike Yastrzemski #18, Eddie P\u00e9rez #95, Matt Olson #28 and Drake Baldwin #30 of the Atlanta Braves celebrate in the fourth inning during Game Three of the Wild Card Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies at Truist Park on October 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr.\/Atlanta Braves\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n
While plenty of the focus in the aftermath of the Postseason has been on the lack of offense near the end, Anthopoulos has chosen to take the long view of things. He repeatedly mentioned that the team finished in the top 10 in batting average (.246, which was tied for 10th with both the Diamondbacks and the Nationals) and slugging (.409, tied for sixth with the Yankees) while also mentioning that some work needed to be done with their on-base percentage, which was certainly below average at .309 and 28th place in all of baseball.<\/p>\n
Still, it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s the type of thing where Alex Anthopoulos would be putting pressure on Walt Weiss to potetially make a change at hitting coach. \u201cIf we had a good year, I do believe in continuity from a coaching staff,\u201d stated AA when he was asked about his thoughts on Jeremy Hefner and Tim Hyers, specifically. \u201cThat\u2019s not to say that you keep everybody for the sake of keeping everybody. If you think you can get better, you need to make adjustments. I haven\u2019t had any conversations with Walt \u2014 this will be me and Walt\u2019s first offseason together and there\u2019s no rush on that type of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think continuity is important for a few reasons. One, new coach comes in, you don\u2019t know them and you don\u2019t get the trust factor immediately,\u201d continued AA. \u201cIt takes time. There\u2019s times where you\u2019re willing to do that and wait and obviously we did it this year with a ton of new staff but it takes time,\u201d continued Anthopoulos. \u201cI think there\u2019s upside for guys to continue to get better now that potentially some of them are going into year two. In terms of [Hefner] and [Hyers] again, we were top-3 in the NL in basically everything [pitching-wise]. From an offensive standpoint, we were top-10 in the Majors in a lot of things. Second half of [2025] our on-base was lot better, it\u2019s a lot of the same guys. This past year, on-base was low but we did all these other things well. We obviously have room to get better so I\u2019d say that I think continuity is important\u2026I think eveyrbody did a really good job and I\u2019m pleased with all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
At multiple points during the press conference, AA was grilled about the positions that he\u2019d be going after during the offseason, with one question going as far as to ask Anthopoulos straight-up if they were going into the offseason looking for specifically two starting pitchers and a left fielder. As you would imagine, AA was cagey about it and stayed cagey as other media members continued to push the issue \u2014 especially when it came to players who may or may not be available via trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gotta remember, our players are going to see that stuff. \u2018Hey, he only mentioned these 1 or 2 guys. Why didn\u2019t he include me?\u2019 Now I have an agent calling me and a player calling me\u2026There\u2019s zero upside to that. I get the question and I get trying to piece it all together but I will tell you this: We will go into the offseason open-minded about all kinds of stuff,\u201d stated AA. \u201cThat\u2019s how you have discussions and that\u2019s how you get creative. THat\u2019s how things go. You never know \u2014 I\u2019ve always said that everyone has a price. There\u2019s always a deal even on a player that you\u2019re unlikely or reluctant to ove. At some point, you include guys. I have no idea where those things are going to go but I don\u2019t think we\u2019re in a position to rule anything out. I just don\u2019t believe in doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
AA did go on to mention that the Braves are planning on using their exclusive negotiation rights with both Mauricio Dub\u00f3n and Tyler Mahle to the best of their ability, so they\u2019re going to give it a good shot when it comes to retaining those two. When it comes to the team options on both Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. and Ozzie Albies, AA didn\u2019t commit to a decision for either player but I\u2019d imagine that it\u2019s safe to assume that both of them will be back.<\/p>\n
Anthopoulos did also directly address the Jurickson Profar situation and while he did mention that Profar is under contract for 2027, he definitely stopped short of guaranteeing that Profar would indeed be back next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose are conversations that we\u2019re going to have,\u201d stated AA. \u201cWe know it\u2019s coming, clearly. We know he\u2019s under contract for 2027, we knew the suspension was gonna be a year. That\u2019s obviously a topic we\u2019re going to have to address and talk about, we haven\u2019t had that discussion yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be prepared to give you a definitive answer one way or another,\u201d continued Anthopoulos. \u201cThat\u2019s not to be cryptic or hedge. I know it\u2019s tough because you guys can only work with what I say\u2026There wasn\u2019t anything for us to do or address [when it came to Profar\u2019s suspension], he was out for the season\u2026What I can tell you is that we\u2019re going to have to sit and talk internally across the board about the whole thing. This is now the time to have those discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthopoulos also talked about Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider and while our article from Sunday touched upon those (and other) topics of discussion during the press conference, further detail really illuminated the matter. \u201cStrider was in Florida throwing bullpens and feeling good,\u201d said AA. \u201cAgain, you\u2019re still far away from rehab games, innings and things like that. Schwellenbach had surgery. I think from a planning standpoint, I don\u2019t think it\u2019d be responsible to say \u2018Okay, those guys are going to start 30 games and throw 180 innings,\u2019 right? That\u2019s something we\u2019re definitely going to have to account for and talk about when it comes to where we\u2019re going to get our innings next season.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember telling Grant Holmes even last offseason at the beginning that how he progresses was going to tell us what his potential role would be. As we sit here today, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re going to see us come in and say that we expect those guys to be locks in the rotation with Sale,\u201d said AA as he continued to explain the situation. \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019d be a responsible thing to say. We know what they can be when they\u2019re healthy and they\u2019re right and the upside is off the charts but right now because of the lost years for basically both\u2026we\u2019ll just see how the offseason progresses at this point. It\u2019s not something going into November that we\u2019ll have any clarity on going into next Spring.\u201d<\/p>\n