The Braves have made a surprising change, reassigning third base coach Matt Tuiasosopo and bringing back former manager Fredi Gonzalez for the same position.
Tuiasosopo has become the team’s minor-league infield coordinator.
Gonzalez, 61, coached under Bobby Cox for the Braves from 2003-06. He then became the Marlins manager, even winning Manager of the Year honors, but was dismissed in 2010. He replaced Cox as the Braves manager after the 2010 season, overseeing the franchise until he was fired in May 2016. Current manager Brian Snitker replaced Gonzalez as the interim and has held the position since.
The Braves announced Gonzalez as acting third base coach.
“This has been on my mind for a little bit,” president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said. He said he approached Snitker about this change Sunday. Gonzalez and Snitker have been longtime friends, so the familiarity and experience helped.
“The opportunity to get somebody (like Gonzalez) was rare,” Anthopoulos said, again noting his availability made this unlikely circumstance possible.
Tuiasosopo replaced the acclaimed Ron Washington as third base coach after the latter became the Angels manager before last season. But Tuiasosopo had been under recent scrutiny for some overaggression in sending runners home. His struggles were under the microscope during the Braves’ 27-31 start that has them in fourth place in the National League East.
Anthopoulos praised Tuiasosopo’s professionalism and said Snitker still believes Tuiasosopo has a bright future as a coach. Anthopoulos reiterated several times that this change likely wouldn’t have occurred if Gonzalez weren’t available.
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