Atlanta Braves are back in second but lack consistency
By Fred Owens
The World Series Champion Atlanta Braves are second in the NL East, 7.5 games behind the Mets, and have no one to blame but themselves.
The Atlanta Braves entered the season as favorites to maintain the NL East crown but haven’t looked capable of doing it thus far. The club’s litany of mediocrity makes for rough reading:
- Last above .500 on April 9
- Longest winning streak two-games
- Four extra-inning games with three losses
- Rank fourth in the East with a .387 Slugging%, .684 OPS, and 155 runs scored, three behind the Marlins, and five runs ahead of the Nationals.
- Last in BA, OBP, OPS+, hits, triples, and strikeouts
There’s more, but that’s enough to paint the picture.
It’s those #%&^*%%%^* baseballs
The Atlanta Braves are 38 games into the season, and the weather’s warmed up. It’s time to put the “short spring-training” excuse back in storage alongside the “wait-until-it-warms-up” mantra. I know it snowed in Colorado, but it was over a hundred here all week at my house until today’s cold snap dropped it to 89; it’s warm already!
The new ball excuse needs to go away as well; everyone is using the same ball, and players are hitting home runs… just ask Nate Eovaldi.
A quick refresher on what to expect from the ball
In the May 4 post for Yahoo Sports, Zach Crizer looked at the hitters who’ll do best with the new ball everyone is using.
". . . hitters most likely to thrive. . . are the ones whose production doesn’t rely as heavily on balls hit in the air . . ."
He wasn’t suggesting everyone try to hit more ground balls; there are different ways to hit balls in the air.
An anonymous front-office executive told Crizer how he believes successful teams will approach hitting.
". . . Strong plate discipline . . .controlling the count and maximizing plate appearances . . . Step 1: Don’t strike out. Step 2: Get on base any way possible. Step 3: (convert the runners into runs)"
Robert Orr’s May 11 post for Baseball Prospectus follows on from Crizer’s post. His data suggests that players who hit more line drives will see better results than players with consistently high launch angles.
So, where do the Braves stand compared to their division rivals? Rhetorically, not so well.