Atlanta Braves: 2017 rankings, and team goals for 2018

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Where to improve? That question might be better answered as ‘where not to improve?’ Several of Atlanta’s players need to make improvements to show they will be ready to compete in 2019.

While the Atlanta Braves near the completion date of their rebuild, 2018 is one more season to get through until the Braves are serious postseason contenders. Until then, there are some things that need to improve…

Pitching

The young pitchers are going to be the main focus of the 2018 season for the Atlanta Braves. How well the young pitchers perform will give Braves Country an outlook as to how successful Atlanta will be in 2019 and beyond.

The Atlanta Braves pitching staff needs to statistically improve:

In 2017, Atlanta ranked 20th out of 30 teams in strikeouts with 1,258 K’s
In 2017, Atlanta ranked 26th out of 30 teams in walks with 584 BB’s
In 2017, Atlanta ranked 25th out of 30 teams in earned runs allowed with 756
In 2017, Atlanta ranked 24th out of 30 teams in ERA with a team ERA of 4.72

What I found interesting while analyzing the BB rate and amount of earned runs allowed is that runs are being scored and walks are being given up at a very high rate in the National League East – not just by Atlanta:

Ranked 26th in BB’s are the Atlanta Braves with 584
Ranked 27th in BB’s are the New York Mets with 593
Ranked 28th in BB’s are the Miami Marlins with 627
Ranked 25th in earned runs allowed are the Atlanta Braves with 756
Ranked 26th in earned runs allowed are the Miami Marlins with 772
Ranked 28th in earned runs allowed are the New York Mets with 799

[Phillies were 18th in ERA; 17th in walk rate; Nats top 10 in both]

A realistic and motivational goal for the Braves pitching staff is to get their rankings out of the twenties and into the teens.

If the Braves pitching staff can lower their overall numbers with this group of talented and young pitchers, the Braves will be one step closer to bringing postseason baseball back to Atlanta. The development of the rotation in 2018 will be the primary indicator of long term, future success as compared to any individual player acquisitions such as the speculated Todd Frazier, Mike Moustakas, or J.T. Realmuto.

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.

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 24: Dansby Swanson #7 of the Atlanta Braves takes the field prior to the first inning of an MLB game against the Philadelphia Phillies at SunTrust Park on September 24, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) /

Defense

Atlanta’s defense was better than you would expect for such a young team in 2017, and their defense will do nothing but improve in 2018.

In 2017, Atlanta ranked 19th out of 30 teams in defensive errors committed with 97.
In 2017, Atlanta ranked 12th out of 30 teams in defensive assists with 1,578.
In 2017, Atlanta ranked 13th out of 30 teams in defensive putouts with 4,324.

While these defensive stats are not eye popping, here are a few facts about them:

Atlanta had fewer defensive errors than 3 teams that were in the 2017 Postseason: Houston Astros (20th with 99 E’s), Boston Red Sox (24th with 107 E’s), and the Arizona Diamondbacks (26th with 108 E’s).
The Braves beat out half of the teams in the Postseason in defensive assists: Astros (16th with 1526), Twins (20th with 1477), Yankees (21st with 1468), Indians (24th with 1447), Red Sox (28th with 1390) and the Dodgers (30th with 1367).

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Another thing to keep in mind is that one player accounted for 21% of the errors committed by the Braves in 2017: Dansby Swanson. In 147 games, Swanson committed 20 out of the 97 defensive errors for Atlanta. The only other shortstop that committed more errors than Swanson in 2017 was Chicago White Sox Tim Anderson, who committed 28 fielding errors.

The main goal for the Braves on defense in 2018 is mostly directed towards Swanson and his ability to reduce the amount of errors he makes with his glove and his arm. With Matt Kemp and Matt Adams no longer on the team, the defensive quality of the Braves outfield will be much better this year… no matter who is run out to left field.

In Summary…

The Braves need their young pitching staff to develop and improve this year. How far of a leap the young pitchers and prospects make will determine the future path of the Atlanta Braves. Building a lethal rotation is essential for postseason contention; e.g. the 1990’s. The Braves offense and pitching staff are slowly but surely closing in on their full potential.

Instead of having the big guys of Kemp or M. Adams patrolling left field, the Braves could eventually move Nick Markakis to left field, who only committed 1 error in 156 games in 2017. Until Acuna’s promotion to the big leagues, Lane Adams and Preston Tucker will likely be keeping left field warm.

Swanson is on schedule to have a turnaround year with his glove going into 2018, and things are overall looking very good defensively for the Atlanta Braves.

Next: Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers amongst best in the league

For Braves fans, there is not much to worry about going into the 2018 season. If anything, you should feel much more excitement than worry or concern. The place that Atlanta is in right now is a very good one, and it will only get better from here.

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