The Atlanta Braves: Looking Good After 82 games in 2018


After a couple of dismal seasons, the Atlanta Braves enjoyed a great first half to the 2018 baseball season.  At 48-34 they have the best record in the National League, but only the fifth best record in baseball overall.  The four teams above them are all in the American League.  Overall, however, this has been a really good first half.  The Braves have been fairly consistent this year.  They have not lost more than three games in a row and have not won more than four games in a row.  Basically, with some painful exceptions (most recently against Baltimore and Cincinnati), they win series by series, often taking 2 out of 3 games.  That starts to add up very positively over a 162-game schedule.

How are they winning?  Mostly with their bats.  The Braves all of baseball early in the season in terms of team batting average.  Currently they are 4th best in baseball with a .261 team average - a very good stat.  The average for the league is .245.  As of today, Nick Markakis (.323) and Freddie  Freeman (.315) are number 3 and 4 respectively in the NL. 

There has been much written about the "babyBraves" in 2018.  Atlanta has one of the youngest teams in baseball.  Ronald Acuna, Jr. has been an early start in his rookie year, though he has battled some injuries.  Ozzie Albies is not much older and has hammered an amazing 17 home runs so far while doing a great job of playing second base.  Johan Camargo and Dansby Swanson are not rookies but they have played very well and are only 24 years old.

It is noteworthy that Freeman, Markakis, and Albies lead the All-Star balloting in their respective positions.  Quite an accomplishment which means that baseball fans in general know who these guys are and how good they are this season.  Acuna would have probably made this list as well but for the fact that he started the season in the minor leagues.

On the pitching side of the equation, the Braves feature several promising young arms as well.  Sean Newcomb has won 8 games so far with an excellent 2.71 ERA.  Though only 6-4, Mike Foltynewicz has a splendid 2.02 ERA with 107 K's in 89 innings, another excellent stat.  Unfortunately, the rest of the Braves pitching has been erratic.  Julio Teheran is supposed to be our "ace" and he has looked brilliant a few times this season.  But he is 6-5 with a rather high 4.21 ERA. 

Where the Braves seem the weakest right now is in their bullpen.  Sam Freeman has been disappointing with a 2-4 record and a 5.03 ERA.  Dan Winkler started the season as unhittable but has had a couple of bad outings lately that have cost us two games.  Our closer, Arodys Vizcaino, has 15 saves but he walks too many batters and has given up too many hits.  Ditto middle relievers Shane Carle, Peter Moylan, A.J. Minter.  Hopefully, these guys can settle down and stop letting teams get back into games that we should have won.

Back to the offensive side of the equation, the Braves are managing to win with basically a bunch of utility players at SS, 3B, and LF.  The star recently has been Charlie Culberson who is swinging a hot bat.  He has emerged as the favorite for now among Camargo, Preston Tucker and Ryan Flaherty.  I actually like the way this diverse collection of players are being managed by Braves skipper Brian Snitker.  As with last season, Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers are playing very well while platooning at catcher.

It is a luxury to whine about how the Braves have not yet quite played up to their potential, as they lead the NL East and have 48 wins in their pocket.  It has been a number of seasons since we had this much to root for in a Braves baseball team.  Hopefully, they can stay free of serious injury and the players don't burn out as the summer rolls on.  It rolls on for every time, of course, and those who can stay consistent will make the playoffs.  Consistency, particularly in middle relief, is what the Braves need with 80 games to play.

Starting tonight, the team faces its biggest test so far this season when the Braves open a 3-game interleague series against the team with the best record in baseball - the damn New York Yankees who are 54-27 by comparison.  To this point in the season Atlanta actually has a slightly better road record (25-17) than they do playing at home (23-17).  So there's hope.  If we can take 2 out of 3 up there then it would be a major statement of our prowess and a big reason to hope for good things to come in the second half of 2018.  That's a BIG IF though. 

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