Braves bring back former manager as new third base coach

The Braves announced that they’ve hired Fredi Gonzalez as third base coach. Matt Tuiasosopo, who had held the role, has agreed to be reassigned to the position of minor league infield coordinator.

González is back with the club he managed between 2011-16. They posted a .512 win percentage during that time, making consecutive playoff berths in 2012-13. They were en route to a last place finish in 2016 when González was fired in the middle of May. They promoted organizational staple Brian Snitker from Triple-A to take the job. Snitker has been there ever since and is behind only Hall of Famers Bobby Cox and Frank Selee (who managed the team at the turn of the 20th century when they were known as the Boston Beaneaters) on the franchise’s all-time win leaderboard.

Snitker and Gonzalez are familiar with one another. Snitker served on the MLB staff as third base coach between 2011-13. Mark Bowman of MLB.com notes that the two longtime friends met last week while the Braves were playing in Philadelphia, though he adds that was not related to the job search. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said the team didn’t seriously contemplate making the change until Sunday.

Gonzalez has not managed since being fired by Atlanta. He spent a few seasons as third base coach in Miami before joining the Orioles’ staff in 2020. That included three seasons as bench coach until he was let go last winter. He makes his return to an MLB staff in place of Tuiasosopo, who spent a year-plus in the position after replacing Ron Washington.

The Braves have had four runners thrown out at home plate this season, including one on a particularly bad send in which Jarren Duran easily cut down Alex Verdugo on May 17. Atlanta also had a crucial ninth-inning miscue in a one-run loss to the Padres on May 23. Eli White was on second base and advanced towards third on a line drive single to center field. White misread a stop sign from Tuiasosopo and evidently believed he was signaling that the ball had been caught. 

He needlessly tried to scramble back to second base and was thrown out. It’s tough to fault Tuiasosopo for that one — White took responsibility postgame and called it “a bad read and misjudgment on my part”  — but the situation magnified some of the team’s baserunning mistakes. The Braves will hope that Gonzalez’s return helps reduce those.