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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Solid Finish, Bradley, Instructional League Roster

By Alan Carpenter

Sep 20, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers (25) and Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Jim Johnson (53) shake ands after defeating the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 20, 2016; New York City, NY, USA; Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers (25) and Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Jim Johnson (53) shake ands after defeating the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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It is rare that a baseball team might wish the regular season would continue beyond 162 games. The Atlanta Braves might be one of those the exceptions.

Anybody actually want to have the Atlanta Braves on the schedule now?  This is actually fun to watch the Braves play baseball right now.  The pitching is coming around a bit, and the hitting is shockingly good.

Here’s some numbers to ponder:

  • 27-40, 211
  • 15-48, 226
  • 29-32, 291

These represent the Won-Loss record of the Braves after July 15th in 2014, 2015, and 2016 – followed by the run-scoring in each year.

Right now the run-scoring ranks third in the NL since that date, and it’s even better since the trade deadline.  This is a whole lot better than the swoons of the past two years, but there’s one more number – a bad one – that should actually give rise to some optimism for the future:

321

That’s the number of runs allowed over that same period (since July 15).  It’s the third worst in the NL.  Imagine the team’s record in the second half had that been reduced by an average of one run per game (to 230). While this would rank in the league’s top two, it is still roughly asking for a 5 ERA to drop to a 4… which historically isn’t out of the norm for this franchise.

That’s the kind of pitching we normally expect from the Braves – and the promise of that kind of ‘normal’ is on the horizon.

A +61 run differential can definitely do some damage to opponents over a 60 game stretch.  There’s another team that has that kind of run differential for the second half (+87 in their case).  It’s the Cubs… sporting a 42-20 record since July 15.

I don’t expect that hitting like this can be sustained… probably not at this pace, at least… but get something close to that plus quality pitching, and that’s a formula for success.

MEANWHILE:  That’s now four in a row over the Nats and Mets.  Good times.  Of course, we’re also just 3 games behind the Diamondbacks in the ‘race’ for the second/third overall draft picks next June.

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