Trusting an .066 hitter was Braves manager Walt Weiss's best decision of the 2026 season

Wednesday's game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers was knotted up at five apiece in the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves were threatening. They had the winning run on second base with two outs against Tanner Scott, but there was one problem - the pitcher, Victor Mederos, was due up. The Braves had lost their DH the inning prior, so the Braves had to either let Mederos hit for himself or use a bat off the bench.

Now, it was never a question of whether manager Walt Weiss was going to pinch-hit for Mederos, but the question of who he'd use off his bench was a real one, as neither Dom Smith nor Ha-Seong Kim felt like an appealing option. Well, Weiss called on Kim, a shortstop hitting .066 on the season (I'm not kidding), to pinch-hit, and the rest was history. Kim lined a 3-2 fastball to left field for a hit. Lane Thomas scored, and the Braves, thanks largely to Walt Weiss, won the game.

Walt Weiss pushed the right button for the Braves in key win

Going to Kim is not a move many managers would've made because, again, he was hitting .066 entering the day. He had gone 5-for-76 with 23 strikeouts overall, and 0-for-3 with a strikeout since returning from the IL. Who would've expected him to come through there?

I'm not here to say Dom Smith, a left-handed hitter who has gone just 5-for-31 against left-handed pitchers this season and has been in a prolonged slump overall, was a good choice either, but at least he wasn't hitting .066 this year. Weiss would've had less explaining to do had he rolled the dice with the player who had simply been hitting better this season.

Instead, he went with his gut, and got rewarded for it. Kim helped the Braves win the series over L.A., and that only adds to what could be a Manager of the Year campaign for Weiss.

Walt Weiss adds to Manager of the Year argument by making right Ha-Seong Kim decision

A lot has gone wrong this season for the Braves, and Kim is a prime example of that. The Braves re-signed Kim on a one-year, $20 million deal, expecting him to be their starting shortstop. He's missed most of the year due to injury, and hasn't performed at all when healthy, yet the Braves, after another win on Wednesday, are now 78-55 on the year, placing them just 2.0 games back of the Dodgers for a bye in the National League.

Shortstop has been a bit of a revolving door for the Braves this season, with Kim, Jim Jarvis, Mauricio Dubon and Jorge Mateo among those to receive some run at the position, but the one constant has been the Braves finding ways to win no matter who starts there. Does Weiss not deserve credit for that?

Adding to this, the Braves have gotten subpar years from Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr., and they have also gotten injury-riddled years from their rotation, with Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver combining to make 14 appearances (13 starts). Even in the bullpen, Robert Suarez has been out for a while and the player who ranks second on the team in appearances, Tyler Kinley, was recently DFA'd. Weiss has overcome this, and again, has his team on the cusp of a bye in the NL playoff race.

Whether Weiss wins the award remains to be seen, but calls like the one he made on Wednesday night only add to his already clear case.

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