Due to various factors, I've only seen opening day. Haven't seen them play anything else. Does this team - predicted by many to be a top 3 or 4 team this year - just muddle through until Acuna & Strider return or is it time to yank the parachute?
Question: Braves 0-6 start. When do we start panicking?
- Thread starter BamaNation
- Start date
Panic should have been right around Baldwin grounding out to first last night for the last out.
That finished off a 4 game stretch where they've scored 2 runs. They got shutout twice.
Something is wrong fundamentally with the hitting. They aren't even threatening in these games with the lack of production.
We're averaging 10 strikeouts per game, just 1 ahead of Boston who has the strikeout champion right now.
Averaging
1.5 runs per game.....dead last.
4.17 hits per game....dead last.
11th in leaving runners on.....not lower because there are no base runners.
.137 batting average overall
.093 batting average in the last 3 games.
.458 OPS
That finished off a 4 game stretch where they've scored 2 runs. They got shutout twice.
Something is wrong fundamentally with the hitting. They aren't even threatening in these games with the lack of production.
We're averaging 10 strikeouts per game, just 1 ahead of Boston who has the strikeout champion right now.
Averaging
1.5 runs per game.....dead last.
4.17 hits per game....dead last.
11th in leaving runners on.....not lower because there are no base runners.
.137 batting average overall
.093 batting average in the last 3 games.
.458 OPS
Those numbers are so staggeringly bad that it's hard to even combat them with the "small sample size" argument.
They all probably should have listened to the guy who hit .300 from both sides of the plate for his career.
But they’d rather strike out swinging for the fences.
Launch angle and swinging for the fences just isn't consistent. It isn't for every player. If you're Barry Bonds, great. Consider, he played 22 seasons, strikeout total was 1539. Aaron Judge is now in his 10th season, strikeout total of 1213. Ohtani is in his 8th season, he's at 923 strikeouts.
There's no more care of actually being a good hitter, someone like a Tony Gwynn. Nah, we're going for launch angle and pull-air rate. Lets get balls in the air to our pull side is what the "data" says.....so we have players just get up there and swing for the fences every time.
How many sac bunts are there now? What's the trend on that one stat?
How many hit and runs are there in this era?
How many times do you even see someone trying to hit behind a runner.
Pitching is the same way....lets just get the guy that can throw 100 mph all day long....oh wait, he needs Tommy John surgery....who's next.
Give me an old Greg Maddux vs Tony Gwynn battle anytime.
And don't even get me started on how this launch angle crap has permeated youth ball too. I've watched too many games where kids are popping up or flying out almost every at bat. Even in the on deck circle, they are practicing this home run swing.
The one kid on my sons team that doesn't constantly pop up or fly out is the leadoff. He's fairly consistent hitting line drives up the middle....I played with his dad, I know who taught him that, it wasn't the coaches.
I've also seen really poor baserunning....it just doesn't seem to be taught well.
Or kids just not being taught the game...the simple things....low baseball IQ. Not picking up on tendencies while watching the other pitcher. I asked my son the other day.....did you notice what pitch was first every time to your 3 and 4 hitters? Both lefties vs a lefty pitcher. He said no and I realized I'd failed as a baseball dad. And I think I went on some tangent at that point talking about sitting in the dugout and just paying attention to the other team's pitcher, the signals the coach is giving, what pitches their hitters struggle with, etc etc.
Nah, lets just get up there and jack the ball all the way to the left fielder....cause I'm a kid and I have no consistent power and the pitcher isn't throwing hard enough for me to get that kind of exit velocity.
The one kid on my sons team that doesn't constantly pop up or fly out is the leadoff. He's fairly consistent hitting line drives up the middle....I played with his dad, I know who taught him that, it wasn't the coaches.
I've also seen really poor baserunning....it just doesn't seem to be taught well.
Or kids just not being taught the game...the simple things....low baseball IQ. Not picking up on tendencies while watching the other pitcher. I asked my son the other day.....did you notice what pitch was first every time to your 3 and 4 hitters? Both lefties vs a lefty pitcher. He said no and I realized I'd failed as a baseball dad. And I think I went on some tangent at that point talking about sitting in the dugout and just paying attention to the other team's pitcher, the signals the coach is giving, what pitches their hitters struggle with, etc etc.
Nah, lets just get up there and jack the ball all the way to the left fielder....cause I'm a kid and I have no consistent power and the pitcher isn't throwing hard enough for me to get that kind of exit velocity.
I saw the lineup last night and nobody is over the Mendoza line but the SS. I think I batted around .093 the last year I played when I was 14 and realized I couldn't see OR hit ... so that tells me I should have persevered could have been a major leaguer with the Braves.
Pretty disgusting to see the payroll and the hitting outcomes. Somebody should be breaking doors and chalkboards in the locker room after last night.
We may have finally reached the end of Snit's Braves career if this doesn't turn around soon.
And it won't really be his fault but the fault of the players and their inability to connect bat to ball.
Nick Allen is hitting .286......don't count it because he's 2 for 7.
#2 in batting average.....Ozuna. He's hitting .214. 3 for 14.
No one player has over 3 hits.
HR leader....Albies with 1
RBI leader....Albies with 3
Profar....who is suspended until mid summer....has 3 hits. He was 3 of 15.
Honestly, I don't understand why the Braves fired Kevin Seitzer, the hitting coach for the last 10 years, after last year. Considering that the Braves had the best team offensive output in baseball history in 2023 (just edging out the 1927 "murderers row" Yankees) and were absolutely besieged by injuries last year, it simply made no sense.
Suffice it to say, the hiring of the new hitting coach (Tim Hyers) has not gone well so far. I know that he was the hitting coach for the Rangers when they won the WS in 2023 and the Red Sox when they won it in 2019, but holy cow, the results through six games look like we're fielding a bad AA squad.
The last two seasons we've only had 1 player each bat for .300 or better.
2024 - Ozuna .302
2023 - Acuna .337
I think you have to go back to 2021 to find 2 guys that hit .300 or better (Freeman, Riley)
These guys only want to hit HRs.
Well we are starting to see why Toronto ran off Alex and nobody had Snitker in their radar after decades of baseball experience. For every stroke of genius we had in 21 we have 10 half moves to no moves that prevented us from winning about 2-3 other WS in that time span.
I think an argument could be made that we have had the toughest opening two series in the league but at the same time after putting all our eggs in Profar and not trying to get our pitching situation fixed I think I expected this.
I think an argument could be made that we have had the toughest opening two series in the league but at the same time after putting all our eggs in Profar and not trying to get our pitching situation fixed I think I expected this.
Personally, I think AA got lucky in 21. If you look at the rest of his years, only one of them stands out as good. Everything else is meh or worse
Well if you can’t sign neither Freeman or Fried to a new deal but you can for Ozuna then it kinda shows where he is as a GM.
I think really we should be fortunate that Snitker fought against his tendencies in game 6 of the NLCS and actually took Luke Jackson out during a bases loaded jam or else we probably wouldn’t have gotten a WS title in this run.
That’s true, but the TEAM batting average was still the best in baseball top to bottom in 2023. We were towards the bottom of the league and strikeouts and we lead the league in on base percentage. YES, we hit a lot of home runs, but we were also second in the National League in doubles.
We had excellent offense last year beyond the home runs more so than in 2022. How much they play together as a team I guess is hoping for debate.
We are tied, pass the scotch and the Mylanta.
You could see this coming when the Braves committed a NOBLETIGER.
It feels like we always blow games when we have an inning where we leave the bases fully stranded.
It feels like we always blow games when we have an inning where we leave the bases fully stranded.
“ to all the saves I’ve blown before….. by letting inherited base runners score…. i’m glad the runs went in so my team couldn’t win….. because of saves I’ve blown before…..”
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