What’s The Problem With Atlanta Braves Pitching
By Fred Owens
Mike Minor (36). Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
After starting the season like a repeat on recent years when Braves pitching carried the team the the rotation and some of the relief crew have returned to earth with a thump. So which is it; elite or smelly feet?
Braves Pitching – Starters by the Numbers
Since 2009 Braves fans have seen their pitching staff carry the team most of the time. This year started the same way as the braves went on a 6-1 tear in the first seven games. That sprint really ended when the thumping the Marlins provided in the last two games before the journey to Canada. Canadian hospitality and some really uncharacteristically bad play by the Blue Jays made that trip look pretty good. Since coming back reality’s set in. The pitching staff hasn’t been good. Here are the overall numbers heading into Saturday’s game in Philadelphia.
| Lg Avg | Braves | Rank | |
| Team ERA | 3.60 | 3.66 | 7th |
| ERA+ | 104 | 102 | 8th |
| FIP | 3.65 | 4.13 | 13th |
| WHIP | 1.259 | 1.325 | 11th |
| Walks/9 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 14th |
| K/9 | 7.8 | 7 | 12th |
That’s discouraging enough but let’s see if we can find out more by looking deeper and we’ll begin as all games do with the starters.
Starting Pitching
Braves starters have been south of mediocre. Some have been better than others and we’ll look at them in a bit but here’s how the starting staff have performed compared to the NL as a whole.
| Starters | Lg Avg | Braves | Rank |
| RA/G | 3.95 | 3.81 | 6th |
| Run Support/IP | 3.8 | 4.1 | T 6th (LAD) |
| Run Support/GS | 3.9 | 3.8 | T 9th (Reds) |
| Pitches/GS | 92 | 91 | T 9th (3 teams) |
| Pitches/IP | 15.6 | 17.5 | 15th |
| IP/GS | 5.9 | 5.2 | 15th |
| QS% | 55% | 38% | 13th |
| Cheap Wins | 1 | 2 | |
| Tough Losses | 2 | 0 |
Surprisingly the starters runs allowed per game average is better than the league and puts them in sixth spot and while the run support for each starter inning is better than average on a per game started basis it’s almost exactly the same as runs allowed. That reflects the Braves run differential of –1 ; 60 scored and 61 allowed. It’s hard to win a games with an offense like that but the Braves have done it in the past. The problem this year is that the rotation isn’t as string as it has been in recent memory.