Are you still worried about the Braves offense?

Despite making zero big moves this off season, so far in 2012 we have seen a brand new Atlanta Braves baseball team. With the exception of the bullpen, everything has been different. The offense has been for the most part carrying the starting rotation and with 12 games down we have come interesting numbers to look at.

The Braves are third in all of baseball in runs scored with 65 behind the Rangers (69) and the Cardinals (70)

Atlanta is tied for first in stolen bases with the Phillies and the Marlins, who all have twelve. The Marlins have been caught stealing 3 times, the Phillies once, and the Braves twice. For some perspective the Braves finished 27th in stolen bases last year with a total of just 77. Michael Bourn and Jason Heyward should both improve that number this season.

The Braves have a decent .269 batting average with runners in scoring position. That’s right in the middle of the pack at 13th in the league. Last season the team hit .249 with runners in scoring position which was 18th in the league.

Over the past 7 days the Braves are hitting .283(8th)/.351(9th)/.490(6th). If we narrow the filter to just National League in that same time period the Braves are 2nd in AVG, 3rd in OBP, and 2nd in SLG percentage. So like I said before the season began the team does have the potential to be one of the better offenses in the league. Michael Bourn is starting to heat up and Tyler Pastornicky, Freddie Freeman, and Dan Uggla haven’t seen things click just yet either so you have a decent argument to say they will get even better.

We will look at some of the pitching numbers after the Diamondbacks game tonight.