Atlanta Braves: 2017 rankings, and team goals for 2018

Batting

The Braves offense performed rather well in 2017 despite injuries, and the amount of young players on the big league team:

• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 6th out of 30 teams in hits with 1,467.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 11th out of 30 teams in doubles with 289.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 18th out of 30 teams in triples with 26.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 28th out of 30 teams in HR’s with 165.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 19th out of 30 teams in RBI’s with 706.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 6th out of 30 teams in batting average with an BA of .263.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 14th out of 30 teams in on base percentage with an OBP of .326.
• In 2017, Atlanta ranked 23rd out of 30 teams in slugging percentage with a SLG on .412.

In the hits category, 3 players accounted for 35% of the teams total hits in the 2017 season: Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, and Freddie Freeman.

Atlanta was in a power drought in 2017 with Matt Kemp and Freddie Freeman on the DL. Matt Adams‘ power bat had limited playing time as he also suffered some minor injuries, and finding a spot for Adams to play once Freeman healed became difficult, hence Freeman’s willingness to play 3rd base.

What kept Atlanta from getting any lower ranked in the home run category was the catching duo of Kurt Suzuki and Tyler Flowers which hit a combined 31 HR’s.

Going into the 2018 season, the main power threats for the Braves will be Freeman, Suzuki, and Flowers. When called up, Ronald Acuña should make an immediate impact on the lack of power in Atlanta.

But even with the power threat of Freeman and Acuña for years to come, the Braves still need to bring in another player that can hit some long balls, whether it is at third base, left field, or any other position… Atlanta’s offensive goal for 2018 should be to add at least 1 power hitter to the lineup, and knock in more runs.

If you recall at the beginning of 2017, Freeman kept hitting home runs like a mad man, but many of them came with 2 outs or no one of base.

Out of the 28 HR’s Freeman hit in 2017, 18 were solo HR’s. In April of 2017, Freeman smacked 9 HR’s, but 7 of those were solo bombs.

The other goal for the Braves is to get on base more in 2018 so Freeman and company can knock in some more runs.