Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Box, Insurance Angles, Draft
Jul 24, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Manny Banuelos (60) returns to the mound as St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (4) runs the bases after Cardinals left fielder Randal Grichuk (not pictured) hit a two run home run during the second inning of a baseball game at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals won 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kane-USA TODAY Sports
Here’s a couple of fun stats:
- Fewest runs scored in baseball: Atlanta Braves – 476 (we knew this)
- Most hits per run scored: Atlanta Braves – 2.35
In both cases, the Marlins are the next team behind the Braves. But what’s even more crazy is just how far from “normal” Atlanta is with these stats:
- Most runs scored: Blue Jays (725), Yankees (633)
- Median runs scored: Padres/Pirates (542-550… half a run per game behind that)
- Fewest hits per run: Blue Jays (1.64), Yankees (1.82)
- Median hits per run: DBacks/A’s (2.06-2.09)
The Braves aren’t very far out of the norm when it comes to getting hits (19th overall – not bad for an NL club), but those hits aren’t being rewarded well.
Witness that Atlanta is are 6th in baseball and 2nd in the National League in the dubious category of Grounding into Double Plays. It would seem that the effects of defensive shifts and poor execution when trying to move runners over is killing their meager run-scoring efforts… among other factors, of course.
As a result, we end up with things like we saw last night: the Marlins turned 11 hits (and 3 walks) into 7 runs; Atlanta had 8 hits (and 3 walks), but managed just a single run… with two more GIDP‘s.
The brightest spot in last night’s contest was the debut of Danny Burawa: 2 innings, no runs, no hits, 4 strikeouts… over two innings of work. Hector Olivera also made his first appearance in the majors, but was 0-4 on the night.
Nonetheless, we’ll do a quick re-rack for a getaway game today at lunchtime.
Next: Here We Go Again