2019 Atlanta Braves at 50 Wins
The Atlanta Braves defeated the New York Mets 5-4 in a rain-delayed game yesterday. It was Atlanta’s 50th win of the season. As of today, only five out of the 30 major league teams have that many wins. The Los Angeles Dodgers, arguably the best team in baseball at this point in the 2019 season, have 56 wins and won their 50th back on June 19. The surprising Minnesota Twins got to 50 on June 21. The Yankees did it on June 24, followed by the Houston Astros on June 25. Yesterday the Braves joined this elite club.
Every team will win at least 50 games this year. Tommy Lasorda famously quipped: “No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference.” And that is true. But winning 50 games before most any other does is one indicator of how good a team you have – to this point of the long season.
The Braves are in the midst of a hot streak. They have gone 17-8 over their last 25 games, which includes an 8-game winning streak. Although rookie starting pitcher Mike Soroka (9-1, 2.13 ERA) and Max Fried (9-3, 3.96) have both been consistently strong, the rest of the Braves starters are either mediocre or flat-out suck. Last year’s All-Star pitcher, Mike Foltynewicz, has been sent back down to AAA Gwinnett. Sean Newcomb has started sporadically but has been more effective out of the bullpen. Julio Teheran is inconsistent at best. The rest are far worse. The recent addition of Dallas Keuchel might help matters. But so far his stats aren’t that impressive (1-1, 5.06). Starting pitching is our Achilles heel and that is usually not a good sign come play-off time.
The Braves bullpen has blown 14 save opportunities and lost 9 games. But the good news is that, after a terrible start to the season, the Braves pen in June has been one of the best in baseball. Although they are heavily taxed with appearances because most of our starters keep getting knocked out of games early, they have performed very well lately and are a big part of what has made our winning ways possible. I am most impressed with middle reliever Jacob Webb and his 1.23 ERA.
The worry here is A.J. Minter (2-4, 4 saves, 6.52) and Luke Jackson (3-2, 13 saves, 2.85). Minter is the young leftie we thought would be our closer of the future. But he has yet to prove himself. Jackson is not a closer at all (he's normally just a mediocre set-up pitcher) but fills that role more or less by default. He has blown 7 saves so far this year and he has never had a very impressive season. It is an uncomfortable situation. The Braves seem to be just barely getting by at the moment, even though June has been an outstanding month for the bullpen.
Which brings us to why the Braves are out in front by 6.5 games in NL East. The 2019 Atlanta Braves have one of the strongest starting line-ups in all of baseball. As a team, the Braves currently rank 4th in the majors in hitting (they are 11th in pitching). Their line-up should be feared.
All-Star (and 2018's Rookie of the Year) Ronald Acuna, Jr. (.290 batting average, 19 home runs, 51 RBI) is fantastic as lead-off. Dansby Swanson (.264, 15, 52) had stepped his game up this year and is hitting well. After that you have All-Star Freddie Freeman (.310, 22, 63) who is just hammering all kinds of pitches with power. Josh Donaldson (.252, 15, 38) is the Braves’ big $23 million free agent. He started the season slow offensively but has been ‘in the zone’, as they say, crushing the ball over the past couple of weeks. His defensive play at 3rd has been an eye-opener at times.
Nick Markakis (.279, 8, 48) and Ozzie Albies (.281, 13, 46) are both solid hitters, Albies also has exceptional defensive talent at 2nd base. The catching duties are shared by Tyler Flowers (.255) and Brian McCann (.267). This tandem is hitting decently for average with 15 HR’s and 45 RBI between them, great production out of that position.
Of special note is our rookie left fielder (actually a third baseman but Donaldson has that position) Austin Riley (.280, 14, 37). He has struck out a lot (56 times in 161 at-bats) but his power numbers suggest he is a future superstar. He has a hot .586 slugging percentage with a triple, 7 doubles, and 14 home runs. So, a homer or extra base-hit roughly every 8 at-bats, lots of power in this kid's swing. Last night he drove one up into the second deck in New York to give the Braves the lead – a monster shot that he absolutely crushed. It seems all of Riley's home runs are big ones, not just in terms of distance but in terms of their contribution to winning games. He has that intangible "clutch" hitting aura about him. He is a serious Rookie of the Year candidate, but there are a lot of talented young candidates vying for that award this year. He needs a tad more consistency (fewer strikeouts) to make a stronger case form himself in the 78 remaining games.
Added to this lineup is a solid bench led by Johan Camargo (.241, 3, 21) and Charlie Culberson (.339, 3, 14). Both have contributed some big pinch hits and, between the two of them, they can play any psoition on the field. Culberson is our "emergency" catcher and he has even pitched an inning earlier this year when the Braves were getting blown out and didn’t want to “waste” a regular pitcher. These two players give Braves manager Brian Snitker a lot of options as far as covering for injuries or just giving certain players a day of rest.
One other stat stands out before today’s game. The Braves have 21 come-from-behind wins. The ability of this team to overcome a run deficit and to score a lot of runs in any given inning basically means that Atlanta is never out of a ball game. Consistent comeback wins remind of the 1995 Braves team, which went on to win the World Series. I don’t know if we’re that good this season, but it has certainly been a fun ride so far. Let's see how they fare over the next 78 games.
Max Fried goes for his 10th win tonight!
Late Note: Fried didn't get his win as the Braves bullpen fell apart in the 8th inning, surrendering 5 runs to the Mets and losing the game 8-5. Newcomb got the loss in relief but Minter was the pitcher who really blew the game. We're at 50 wins and have a healthy lead in the NL East but our pitching makes it seem all very precarious at this point in the season.
Every team will win at least 50 games this year. Tommy Lasorda famously quipped: “No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference.” And that is true. But winning 50 games before most any other does is one indicator of how good a team you have – to this point of the long season.
The Braves are in the midst of a hot streak. They have gone 17-8 over their last 25 games, which includes an 8-game winning streak. Although rookie starting pitcher Mike Soroka (9-1, 2.13 ERA) and Max Fried (9-3, 3.96) have both been consistently strong, the rest of the Braves starters are either mediocre or flat-out suck. Last year’s All-Star pitcher, Mike Foltynewicz, has been sent back down to AAA Gwinnett. Sean Newcomb has started sporadically but has been more effective out of the bullpen. Julio Teheran is inconsistent at best. The rest are far worse. The recent addition of Dallas Keuchel might help matters. But so far his stats aren’t that impressive (1-1, 5.06). Starting pitching is our Achilles heel and that is usually not a good sign come play-off time.
The Braves bullpen has blown 14 save opportunities and lost 9 games. But the good news is that, after a terrible start to the season, the Braves pen in June has been one of the best in baseball. Although they are heavily taxed with appearances because most of our starters keep getting knocked out of games early, they have performed very well lately and are a big part of what has made our winning ways possible. I am most impressed with middle reliever Jacob Webb and his 1.23 ERA.
The worry here is A.J. Minter (2-4, 4 saves, 6.52) and Luke Jackson (3-2, 13 saves, 2.85). Minter is the young leftie we thought would be our closer of the future. But he has yet to prove himself. Jackson is not a closer at all (he's normally just a mediocre set-up pitcher) but fills that role more or less by default. He has blown 7 saves so far this year and he has never had a very impressive season. It is an uncomfortable situation. The Braves seem to be just barely getting by at the moment, even though June has been an outstanding month for the bullpen.
Which brings us to why the Braves are out in front by 6.5 games in NL East. The 2019 Atlanta Braves have one of the strongest starting line-ups in all of baseball. As a team, the Braves currently rank 4th in the majors in hitting (they are 11th in pitching). Their line-up should be feared.
All-Star (and 2018's Rookie of the Year) Ronald Acuna, Jr. (.290 batting average, 19 home runs, 51 RBI) is fantastic as lead-off. Dansby Swanson (.264, 15, 52) had stepped his game up this year and is hitting well. After that you have All-Star Freddie Freeman (.310, 22, 63) who is just hammering all kinds of pitches with power. Josh Donaldson (.252, 15, 38) is the Braves’ big $23 million free agent. He started the season slow offensively but has been ‘in the zone’, as they say, crushing the ball over the past couple of weeks. His defensive play at 3rd has been an eye-opener at times.
Nick Markakis (.279, 8, 48) and Ozzie Albies (.281, 13, 46) are both solid hitters, Albies also has exceptional defensive talent at 2nd base. The catching duties are shared by Tyler Flowers (.255) and Brian McCann (.267). This tandem is hitting decently for average with 15 HR’s and 45 RBI between them, great production out of that position.
Of special note is our rookie left fielder (actually a third baseman but Donaldson has that position) Austin Riley (.280, 14, 37). He has struck out a lot (56 times in 161 at-bats) but his power numbers suggest he is a future superstar. He has a hot .586 slugging percentage with a triple, 7 doubles, and 14 home runs. So, a homer or extra base-hit roughly every 8 at-bats, lots of power in this kid's swing. Last night he drove one up into the second deck in New York to give the Braves the lead – a monster shot that he absolutely crushed. It seems all of Riley's home runs are big ones, not just in terms of distance but in terms of their contribution to winning games. He has that intangible "clutch" hitting aura about him. He is a serious Rookie of the Year candidate, but there are a lot of talented young candidates vying for that award this year. He needs a tad more consistency (fewer strikeouts) to make a stronger case form himself in the 78 remaining games.
Added to this lineup is a solid bench led by Johan Camargo (.241, 3, 21) and Charlie Culberson (.339, 3, 14). Both have contributed some big pinch hits and, between the two of them, they can play any psoition on the field. Culberson is our "emergency" catcher and he has even pitched an inning earlier this year when the Braves were getting blown out and didn’t want to “waste” a regular pitcher. These two players give Braves manager Brian Snitker a lot of options as far as covering for injuries or just giving certain players a day of rest.
One other stat stands out before today’s game. The Braves have 21 come-from-behind wins. The ability of this team to overcome a run deficit and to score a lot of runs in any given inning basically means that Atlanta is never out of a ball game. Consistent comeback wins remind of the 1995 Braves team, which went on to win the World Series. I don’t know if we’re that good this season, but it has certainly been a fun ride so far. Let's see how they fare over the next 78 games.
Max Fried goes for his 10th win tonight!
Late Note: Fried didn't get his win as the Braves bullpen fell apart in the 8th inning, surrendering 5 runs to the Mets and losing the game 8-5. Newcomb got the loss in relief but Minter was the pitcher who really blew the game. We're at 50 wins and have a healthy lead in the NL East but our pitching makes it seem all very precarious at this point in the season.
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