Braves Continue to Lose Winnable Games
The Braves weren’t projected to be a playoff team, but they’ve shown glimpses of good baseball; they just can’t seem to put it all together.
Nobody really expected much from Atlanta this season, they were expected to go .500, show some flashes of offense and have pitching that may perform at somewhat of a high level. So far, that’s been correct.
The starting pitching hasn’t been bad. The highest ERA among Atlanta’s starters belongs to Bartolo Colón at 4.50. Unfortunately, the bullpen hasn’t done any the Braves starters any favors. Jose Ramirez has been the Braves best reliever with a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings of work, and even though Jim Johnson’s ERA is 3.52, it shouldn’t be that high for a closer.
Mike Foltynewicz has been the bright spot of the rotation — Teheran has been great, but he’s always great, and it’s expected of him. Foltynewicz had a lot of question marks surrounding his pitching. Fans wondered if he was going to be able to get out of jams, and not just walk batters to get out of an at-bat. He has been solid, posting a 3.20 ERA over 19.2 innings.
Dansby Swanson is batting just .139/.162/.194, and has been moved to the number eight spot; Brandon Phillips is now batting second. It’s nothing to worry about, Swanson had a great rookie campaign, but having that just translate to a player’s sophomore year doesn’t always happen. It’s not like Swanson isn’t hitting the ball, he gets contact, he just can’t seem to put the ball in play. Hard hit balls are not his friend, but he’ll eventually figure it out, even if it’s not this season.
Freddie Freeman has been the best hitter in baseball, slashing an eye-popping .391/.494/.810 and making the case for being a (very) early MVP candidate. Phillips is seeing the ball very well, and has struck out just seven times in 70 ABs. He and Freeman have a team-high 24 hits.
So why can’t the Braves win the games they’re losing? For one, manager Brian Snitker has mismanaged a few games. Against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Teheran had been brilliant for seven innings, and Snitker pulled him at just 87 pitches — the bullpen collapsed, and the Braves lost on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th. Teheran should have been left out there to at least attempt to get to the ninth inning. Even in games where going to the bullpen was necessary, they’ve been bad. Atlanta’s bullpen has a 5.19 ERA and is ranked 27th in the league.
After a few blazingly hot games, Ender Inciarte has cooled off. Inciarte hit four home runs in the first 18 games after hitting just three home runs all last season.
If they decide to bring Ozzie Albies up this year, he’d likely play third base. Albies is hitting .282/.312/.437 with AAA Gwinnett and had a 13 game hitting streak before going 0–4 against Pawtucket. Gwinnett has played 16 games this year, and Albies has had six multi-hit games already.
The Braves have a 6–12 record. Reaching .500 seems like a pipe-dream, but Atlanta has shown what they can do for a four-game stretch. They have the ability to win games, they just need to make sure their starters pitch all nine innings in every start. But seriously, if the Braves can rotate players in and out of the bullpen that can produce solid outings, they’ll have the chance to break .500, but until then, they’ll continue to lose games they have the ability to win.
