‘A perfect choice for this particular team.’ How Walt Weiss made a seemingly seamless transition to Braves manager.

The Braves change managers with less frequency than the United States changes presidents.

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From 1990 to 2025, only Bobby Cox, Fredi Gonzalez, and Brian Snitker managed the club. The Marlins have had 17 managers since they debuted in 1993.

For 62-year-old Walt Weiss, who spent eight seasons as bench coach before he was promoted to replace Snitker this season, it’s a legacy he takes seriously.

“I know what this brand means and how important this team is to people, Weiss said. “There are high standards here.”

A first-round pick of the Athletics out of the University of North Carolina in 1985, Weiss, a shortstop, made his major league debut in 1987 and played until 2000. He joined the Rockies as a special assistant to general manager Dan O’Dowd in 2002.

Weiss then made an unexpected career move, leaving the professional ranks for four years to coach his sons in baseball and football at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colo.

O’Dowd hired Weiss to manage the Rockies in 2013. He lasted four seasons, then joined the Braves as bench coach under Snitker in 2018. President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos valued the continuity after Snitker retired.

It made sense. Homegrown players at the core of the roster — Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Drake Baldwin, Bryce Elder, Michael Harris II, Austin Riley, and Spencer Strider among them — knew Weiss well, as did veterans such as Raisel Iglesias, Matt Olson, and Chris Sale.

“A perfect choice for this particular team,” Sale said. “You see the results.”

The Braves felt like an obvious choice for Andover’s Mike Yastrzemski when he became a free agent after last season.

“For me, it was the winning culture,” he said. “There’s a history of winning here, and they’ve been in the playoffs a ton. And Walt has been unbelievable. The communication has been great, and he’s somebody you can get behind as a manager.

“He knows the game, he knows these players, and he knows the organization. There’s a lot of comfort there knowing that it wasn’t an outside hire who was going to come in and revamp things.”

It didn’t hurt that it’s a 40-minute flight between Atlanta and Yastrzemski’s home in Nashville — or that the Braves offered him two years and $23 million. But at 35, Yastrzemski also valued the opportunity to play in the World Series before he retired.

That goal appears realistic. The Braves improved to 38-19 after taking two of three games from the Red Sox at Fenway Park this past week. They left Boston with the best record and second-best run differential in the game.

“This is a team built to win,” said backup catcher Sandy León, who earned a ring with the 2018 Red Sox. “The pitching has been excellent, and that’s what you need.”

Managing has changed considerably since Weiss was last in the big chair. Baseball’s information revolution has altered in-game decision-making, roster construction, and player development.

“You get instant feedback these days that used to take weeks,” Weiss said. “Now we can do it in a minute, and you don’t have to guess. We have the evidence. That’s a good thing. But the art of it is trying to figure out what information is pragmatic and can be used over a nine-inning game.

“You can get caught up in trying to follow a script, too, because there’s so much information. That’s a trap. You still have to watch the game and have discretion of what to use and when to use it.”

Weiss is not as old school as you might think. He admitted he hated the rule change that mandated a reliever face three hitters when it was first proposed, but he later came to appreciate it.

“It’s not as radical as I thought it was going to be,” he said. “Like a lot of the new rules, it’s pretty seamless. It does make for quicker games and better games. You adapt.”

Weiss inherited a 98-loss team when he managed the Rockies, an organization that hasn’t won a division title since it joined the league in 1993. Now he has one of the best jobs in baseball.

“I had only heard good things about Walt before I came here,” Yastrzemski said. “When I signed, people started reaching out telling me how much I was going to love playing for him, and they were exactly right.”

Nick Sogard has been a useful player for the Red Sox since he was called up on May 16. His sacrifice bunt Wednesday led to a six-run fourth inning against the Braves.

At a time when hitters are coached to swing as hard as they can and get the ball in the air, Sogard is proof that small ball still has a place.

It goes back to being taught how to bunt by his father, former Tufts baseball and football player Steve Sogard.

“He was a similar player to me, not a ton of home runs, and he relied on his speed,” Nick said. “One of the first things I learned in baseball was bunting.”

It runs in the family. His uncle, Steve Sax, had 75 sacrifices in his 14-year major league career. Another uncle, Dave Sax, played in the majors from 1982-87 and appeared in 28 games for the Red Sox.

One of his cousins, Eric Sogard, had 19 sacrifices and 20 bunt hits during an 11-year career in the majors.

“I feel confident to hit, but if I see the third baseman is back, I’ll try to bunt for a hit,” Nick said. “Understanding the kind of team we have now, small ball is something that can help us win games.”

Sogard has managed to appear in 71 major league games without hitting a home run. But he had 30 dingers over parts of five seasons with Triple-A Worcester. Interim manager Chad Tracy knows him well.

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“Really good baseball player, high-level IQ, really good instincts, knows what he’s doing, knows when to bunt,” Tracy said.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ The Sox went into the weekend with four home runs and a league-worst 19 RBIs from their designated hitters. Only the Diamondbacks, with two, had fewer homers. As a group, Sox DHs were hitting .231 with a .654 OPS.

Andruw Monasterio, who had one home run in his previous 122 at-bats, was the DH against Sale on Thursday and actually hit fifth. He came to the plate with two runners on in the first inning and struck out, then struck out again in the third inning with two runners on, and did so again in the fifth inning with a runner on.

Monasterio started 34 games for the Brewers last season and hit eighth or ninth 26 times. In three years with Milwaukee, he started one game as a DH.

He is a helpful bench player because of his defensive versatility and righthanded bat. But he is not a player who should be hitting fifth against anyone, let alone Sale.

Yes, the Sox have Roman Anthony and Trevor Story on the injured list and that has complicated lineup construction for Tracy. But how has an organization that had David Ortiz and J.D. Martinez take a huge percentage of its DH at-bats from 2003-22 gotten to this point?

▪ The Braves were impressed at what they saw from 35-year-old journeyman reliever Tyron Guerrero, who was called up on May 22.

“His stuff moves all over the place,” Atlanta hitting coach Tim Hyers said. “He’s tough to square up.”

Inconsistent mechanics and poor command have limited Guerrero’s major league time. He made 112 appearances for the Marlins from 2018-19 but has otherwise bounced around.

Closer Aroldis Chapman is a believer and is working with Guerrero to improve his pregame routine and get stronger.

Then there’s this: Guerrero was known as “Tayron” for most of his career before it was corrected to “Tyron” by the Sox when he was called up.

▪ James Fagnant, the son of Red Sox New England area scout Ray Fagnant, was named the New England NJCAA Division 2 Player of the Year.

Fagnant hit .480 with 14 doubles, 5 home runs, and 27 stolen bases for UConn Avery Point. He is playing for New Britain in the Futures League this summer and hopes to land a spot with a four-year program.

The first salvos of the upcoming labor war were heard last week. They could not have been more predictable.

On Wednesday, the MLB Players Association released details of its initial proposal to the owners. The union seeks to raise the minimum salary from $780,000 to $1.5 million, expand arbitration, eliminate the qualifying offer, and expand the pre-arbitration bonus program.

They apparently drew the line at giving every player a private jet.

The union’s plan calls for small-market teams to be guaranteed $240 million in revenue and for all teams to keep more of their stadium-related revenue. Lower-revenue teams would receive extra revenue sharing for playing in the postseason or having a winning record.

The union also seeks a new “competitive integrity tax” that would compel teams to spend $150 million in salaries or lose a percentage of their revenue-sharing payments. The players also called for big-market teams to share local media revenues with smaller-market teams.

The league responded Thursday by proposing a $243.3 million salary cap and $171.2 million salary floor with a 50-50 split of revenues.

All local media revenue would become central revenue. So teams with flourishing regional sports networks (such as the Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, and Mets) would carry small-market teams.

The union quickly responded with a statement from interim executive director Bruce Meyer condemning the idea of a salary cap as a tool that would only make the owners wealthier.

Meyer pointed out that the last demand for a salary cap in 1994 led to a long work stoppage and the cancellation of the World Series.

Both sides are trying to pull the public to their side, with the league claiming fans want a cap. Wonder how many fans of the Dodgers, Mets, and Yankees they surveyed?

There is little chance the union would agree to a cap, and if the owners insist, it seems likely games will get canceled in 2027. It will come down to whether the sides can find something else to bring teams like the Guardians and Marlins closer to the Dodgers and Mets.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he will retire when his contract expires after the 2028 season. He will not want canceled games as part of his legacy.

Is there hope?

You would like to believe both sides recognize that a work stoppage would ruin all the progress baseball has made in recent years in attendance, television ratings, attracting younger fans, and other markers of success.

There is no catching the NFL, but MLB has surged past the NBA in some metrics and become an international attraction ripe for expansion. Throwing that momentum aside would be foolish.

But what’s good for the greater game is often a secondary issue in collective bargaining. That’s the unfortunate part.

The Yankees have been painstakingly methodical in bringing Gerrit Cole back from Tommy John surgery. He made six minor league starts over three levels and pitched 29 innings before he came off the injured list. That patience paid off. Cole has since pitched 12⅔ scoreless innings over two starts, allowing six hits and striking out 12 with three walks. The schedule is also working out well for the Yankees. New York will give Walpole’s Cam Schlittler six days off before he pitches again Tuesday. Cole will also get two extra days before his next start. Schlittler (7-2, 1.50 ERA) has already pitched 72 innings this season … Tyler O’Neill has hit .185 with a .620 OPS and only 11 home runs in 89 games for the Orioles since agreeing to a three-year, $49.5 million contract before the 2025 season. O’Neill, whose value has been centered on his ability to hit for power against lefthanders, started this season 4 for 45 (.089) against lefthanders with 18 strikeouts. The outfielder also has regressed defensively. The Orioles could be at the point of having little choice but to release him … Shohei Ohtani hit the third pitch of the bottom of the first inning against the Rockies on Wednesday night for a 424-foot home run. Then he continued pitching and threw six no-hit innings, averaging 97.4 miles per hour with his fastball, and topping out at 100.3. But what makes Ohtani so great is that he was annoyed he also walked four and allowed a run. “I think I could’ve pitched deeper into the game if I gave up hits,” he told reporters. “And I would rather take the days where I get hit a little bit but still be efficient rather than walking and just not being able to pitch deeper into the game.” The one run raised Ohtani’s ERA from 0.73 to 0.82 over nine starts. He was the first Dodgers pitcher to pitch six hitless innings and homer since Don Drysdale against the Phillies on June 25, 1959. Drysdale homered off Robin Roberts. The National League Cy Young race is shaping up to be incredible with how well Ohtani, Sale, Cristopher Sánchez, Jacob Misiorowski, and Chase Burns have pitched … The third edition of the East-West Classic will be June 19 at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Ala. Former Red Sox players Mike Cameron, Bill Hall, and Chris Young are among the retired players expected to play. Rickwood Field, which opened in 1910, is where Willie Mays began his professional career in 1948 … Paul Skenes is 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA for the Pirates in his last three games. The defending NL Cy Young Award winner has allowed four or more earned runs three times in 12 starts this season. That happened five times in 55 starts in his first two years … The disastrous Giants have started making changes, reassigning third base coach Hector Borg. Ron Wotus, a senior adviser to president of baseball operations Buster Posey, is filling in until a replacement is named … Happy birthday to Tim Van Egmond, who is 57. The righthander appeared in 11 games for the Red Sox from 1994-95. Van Egmond was a 17th-round draft pick in 1991 out of Division 2 Jacksonville State in Alabama. He was referred to as “Vanegmond” in the pages of the Globe when he made his debut in Milwaukee and threw 111 pitches in a 5-4 loss. “After I got the first two outs, I told myself they’re human,” he said. “I got a little bit relaxed instead of being focused.” Van Egmond picked up his first major league win when he beat the Brewers at Fenway Park on July 29. He threw a complete game, allowing two runs. Van Egmond was 2-4 with a 6.80 ERA over 11 games, eight of them starts, for the Sox. He was released in 1996, landed with the Brewers, and appeared in 12 more major league games. His playing career ended in the minors in 1999. He had a second career in sales and now lives in Georgia.

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