Atlanta Braves announce 2021 coaching staff, including two new assistants for Brian Snitker

The Atlanta Braves announced the club’s coaching staff for the 2021 season on Friday.

Brian Snitker, 65, will return for a sixth season as Atlanta’s manager. The 2020 Baseball America Manager of the Year guided the Braves to a third consecutive National League East title, advancing the team to the League Championship Series for the first time since 2001. Snitker, who has been skipper since taking over on an interim basis on May 17, 2016, has led the Braves to 353 wins, the fourth-most managerial wins since the franchise relocated to Atlanta in 1966.

Also returning to Snitker’s staff are bench coach Walt Weiss (4th season), hitting coach Kevin Seitzer (7th season), pitching coach Rick Kranitz (3rd season), first base/outfield coach Eric Young Sr. (4th season), third base coach Ron Washington (5th season), catching coach Sal Fasano (4th season) and assistant hitting coach José Castro (7th season).

Joining Snitker’s staff are Drew French as bullpen coach and Bobby Magallanes as assistant hitting coach. Magallanes, 51, will have a similar role to Castro, and both will work in support of Seitzer. Magallanes enters his third season in Atlanta’s organization. The Los Angeles native began his Braves tenure as Triple-A Gwinnett’s hitting coach in 2019, before serving as the organization’s assistant hitting coordinator last year. Magallanes began his coaching career in 2002. Before joining the Braves, he worked in the Angels (9 seasons), White Sox (4 seasons) and Indians (4 seasons) organizations.

French, 36, spent the past five seasons in the Astros organization, and worked last season as one of two pitching coaches at Houston’s alternate training site. He then joined the Astros for the end of the regular season and playoffs as the pitching coach for the club’s major league taxi squad. French also worked as a pitching coach at Triple-A Round Rock (2019), Single-A Buies Creek (2018) and Single-A Quad City (2017). He began his Astros coaching career in 2016 with Single-A Tri-City. A right-handed pitcher at Concordia University from 2003-2006, French served in coaching roles with the University of Alabama (2009-11), Florida International University (2012-13) and Lee University (2014-15).