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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Finding the Missing Link

By Alan Carpenter

Jul 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A baseball is shown on the infield during batting practice before the game against the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A baseball is shown on the infield during batting practice before the game against the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A baseball is shown on the infield during batting practice before the game against the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 21, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A baseball is shown on the infield during batting practice before the game against the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /

Braves’ Offense has been good enough; the Missing Pitching Links are starting to come around

LESS THAN THREE WEEKS remain in Grapefruit and Cactus League play, and just a brief update today.

So far, the Braves’ offense is actually holding its own. As a team, Atlanta is 13th in runs scored, fifth in batting average, 9th in OBP, and 10th in OPS.

The Braves are also 2nd in triples with 8, but of course most of these have been from players that will be racing about minor league bathpaths starting in April.

Other trends?

  • Nationals: 17th in OPS, 19th in avg., but 10th in runs scored (despite only 13 games; most teams are at 15)
  • Mets: 23rd in OPS, 8th in avg., and 14th in runs (also played just 13 games)
  • Marlins: 28th in OPS, 23rd in avg., 29th in runs (12 games played, but this is bad regardless)
  • Phillies: 2nd in runs scored (16 games), 4th in OPS, 7th in average

What do these numbers suggest?

  • The better farm systems will produce better in Spring. That fact does buoy both the Braves and Phillies.
  • The Marlins could really be in trouble, especially if they can’t get Giancarlo Stanton going.
  • The Nationals and Mets will continue to rely on their pitching.

Any Hope for the Braves’ Pitching?

The Braves have been holding a tryout camp for pitchers – thus there’s little value in reporting team stats for pitching results.  The real question is whether things are now trending in the right direction.

They are:

Hopefully Bud Norris can continue the trend today. His last outing was excellent. Both he and Jhoulys Chacin (1 walk, 2K, 3 hits over 3 innings Friday) are looking like rotation members while Williams Perez and Manny Banuelos are struggling a bit.

Braves take on the Tigers today in an MLB.TV game.

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