Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: April, Road Trip Takeaways

It almost ended with a flourish, but the Braves suddenly have a bit of new life, winning 4 of the last 5 road games. And they are heading home.

The Atlanta Braves are about to begin a week-long homestand with the Mets and Cardinals coming to SunTrust for the first time.

There is reason to be optimistic as well, coming off a good road trip with some things starting to click for them after uneven play through the season’s first month.

So what are these hopeful signs? Let’s make a list…

The Pitching is Holding Up

All starters have an ERA under 4.00 excepting Bartolo Colon (5.59… and the Braves won his most recent ragged outing).

Colon is going to be like this: 4 runs or more allowed in 3 starts, 1 run allowed in each of 2 others. He will supply innings, but it’s up to the bullpen and the offense to carry the day during the poor outings… and that did happen on Friday night.

While some of the Brew Crew did get their licks in over the weekend, the Braves were successful in keeping one specific hitter at bay: Eric Thames.

Thames entered the weekend are perhaps the hottest hitter in baseball with a formerly-league-leading 28 runs scored and 11 homers, but Atlanta stymied him: 2 for 13 – both hits were singles – 1 run scored, no RBI, 2BB and 4K.

That’s how you slow down a guy who still has a wRC+ number of 219 with a 1.276 OPS.

Folty at the Front

Mike Foltynewicz has the best staff ERA at 2.81. Detractors will point to a FIP of 3.92/xFIP of 4.14, but those also lead the rotation.

Still, he needs some run support. He’s got an 0-3 record for April, but doesn’t deserve such a fate. On Sunday, it was one error that lead to one pitch that derailed him and the Braves in a one-run loss.

Freddie Can Even Hit in the Dark

He apparently doesn’t need any lineup protection either, having not had Matt Kemp behind him for nearly half of April.

Freeman hit .381 in April… and torched the Brewers over the weekend despite calling out Miller Park as “…a bad-lit Little League field … I can’t see anything here” in quotes to David O’Brien, which were very widely repeated among major media outlets.

For the weekend, he was 5 for 13 (.385) with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI. Wonder if he can hit blindfolded, too.

He won’t have that problem at SunTrust Park, which now sports arguably the best stadium lighting in baseball.

But perhaps after these comments – and seeing what the Braves have done in their new home – some changes around the league might be done around the league. It’s not just Miller Park that could be seen in a different light.

10 and 13

Fourth place (ahead of NYM), but just a game back of second (MIA/PHI).

At the beginning of the month, would you have been okay with that record? Sure, 11-12 or 12-11 would have been better, but it’s not horrible.

Late last week, we looked at the upcoming schedule, and while there will be challenges, there will also be opportunities. Can you imagine catching the Mets for 4 games at a better time? Or the Blue Jays? The Pirates? The Giants?

Team Hitting

I don’t know how long this can last, but it’s amazing.

Name	G	PA	HR	R	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	WAR
Flowers	18	54	0	3	9	.391	.481	.435	.916	153	0.5
Freeman	23	101	9	22	14	.381	.485	.798	1.283	224	2.0
Phillips	21	80	2	10	10	.355	.388	.500	.888	137	0.6
Kemp	13	58	6	7	16	.321	.345	.732	1.077	178	0.7
Markakis	23	100	1	14	10	.310	.390	.437	.827	118	0.7

More from Tomahawk Take

Sure, there are some incredible figures supporting this chart – like Tyler Flowers having a .514 BABIP. But getting production like this out of five spots in your lineup means that things are going pretty well for the offense.

Such production should also take some of the pressure off the shoulders of Dansby Swanson (.156) and Ender Inciarte (.230).

No, it’s not as good as the formidable Nationals right now: their top hitters totaled 6.4 fWAR for the month – and injured Adam Eaton just missed that list.

Still, this is 4.5 WAR for the Braves’ best regulars, and that’s before 3 of them (Swanson, Inciarte, Garcia) get things figured out.

Here’s your box score from Sunday’s contest:

**Atlanta Braves Hitting**
Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pit	Str	Details
Ender Inciarte CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	.230	.267	.400	.667	8	8	2·SB
Adonis Garcia 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	.222	.255	.311	.566	22	13
Freddie Freeman 1B	3	1	1	1	0	0	.381	.485	.798	1.283	9	5	HR,CS,HBP
Matt Kemp LF	4	0	1	1	0	2	.321	.345	.732	1.077	11	10
Nick Markakis RF	3	0	1	0	1	1	.310	.390	.437	.827	23	14
Kurt Suzuki C	4	0	0	0	0	0	.182	.326	.273	.598	14	9	GDP
Jace Peterson 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	.255	.321	.353	.674	16	8
Dansby Swanson SS	3	0	1	0	0	1	.156	.200	.233	.433	10	6
Mike Foltynewicz P	2	0	0	0	0	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	8	7
Brandon Phillips PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	.355	.388	.500	.888	5	3
Josh Collmenter P	0	0	0	0	0	0
Team Totals	32	3	7	3	1	8	.219	.265	.313	.577	126	83

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

**Atlanta Braves Pitching**
Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	SO	HR	ERA	BF	Pit	Str	GB	FB	GSc
Mike Foltynewicz, L (0-3)	6	4	4	1	6	2	2.81	24	82	56	12	6	60
Josh Collmenter	2	1	0	0	4	0	2.00	7	33	21	1	2
Team Totals	8	5	4	1	10	2	1.12	31	115	77	13	8	60

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Coming Attractions

For the Mets’ series (ALL GAMES 7:35PM EDT):

MON: Gsellman vs. Teheran (repeating last week’s matchup)
TUE: Harvey vs. Dickey (ditto)
WED: deGrom vs. Colon
THR: Wheeler vs. Garcia

Next: Full Sunday Recap

At least that’s what the Mets are saying now for the pitching matchups… but Tom Seaver might have to start warming up, the way this have been going for them.

Home/Braves News