Analyzing the Atlanta Braves History Against Trevor Bauer
By James Kunkle
The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds start their Wild Card Series round on Wednesday.
The playoffs are here and with a twist this year. The Atlanta Braves won the NL East for the third consecutive year but will have to play a team that finished third in their division.
As most know though, the Cincinnati Reds are one of the hottest teams in the game and most likely would have won the division if it weren’t for a slow start to their first half.
The Reds have a strong lineup, but more importantly, they have a 1-2-3 rotation that almost every team in the game would envy.
The trio of Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Sonny Gray are about as formidable as they come.
However, today we are going to focus on the Atlanta Braves history against game 1 starter, Trevor Bauer.
I’ve been on record for a long time stating that I hope the Atlanta Braves go after Bauer this upcoming offseason, so I hope this is the first of many starts that includes Bauer and the Atlanta Braves.
Anyways, let’s get to the numbers.
The biggest thing that jumps off the board to me is Tyler Flowers has owned Bauer in albeit a small sample size. Flowers is 6-11 in his career against the righty. Despite all that though, I fully expect Travis d’Arnaud to be starting (the lineup just dropped and that is indeed the case). For those wondering, d’Arnaud has only had 1 career at bat against Bauer.
What about the big boys though?
Yes, everyone wants to know what about the likes of Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman, Marcell Ozuna, and Ozzie Albies.
Freddie is 4-10 in his career against Bauer and that includes three doubles. As for the other three, they are a combined 2-for-13 and both hits have come via Ozzie Albies.
The most surprising part of it all to me is how few at-bats that most Braves players have against Bauer.
As mentioned, d’Arnaud with only 1 at-bat. Ozuna with only 2. Dansby Swanson also only with a couple.
It will not be easy, but it’s not supposed to be. The Reds will have a hard time too as they face Atlanta Braves ace, Max Fried. A pitching matchup that features two of the possible top 5 contenders for the NL Cy Young award.
It goes without saying that the winner of game 1 in a best of 3 series has a big advantage, so hopefully this is the year the Atlanta Braves snap this postseason bad luck streak.