Atlanta Braves: 5 keys to beating the Dodgers
By James Kunkle
2. Be aggressive on the basepaths
Let’s start with the simple solutions to being aggressive. The Atlanta Braves accumulated 90 stolen bags this year, which was good enough for 10th in the majors. That total also brought them in above the league average which was 82.
Inciarte was the team leader with 28 stolen bases, while Acuna was 2nd with 16, and rounding out the top 3 was Albies with 14.
It’s about much more than just stealing bags, however. The Braves need to take advantage of any miscues the Dodgers occur and make them pay. It’s about running hard down the line to break up a double play or going from 1st to 3rd on a single.
The quiet weapon the Braves have is Ron Washington. Many people will tell you he is the best 3rd base coach in all of baseball. Braves fans sure hope to see him waving plenty of runners home over the next week.
Another item the Braves can utilize is getting the bunts down and moving the runners. Not a lot of people will realize the Braves are first in the major leagues in sacrifices (all Sacrifice plays added up).
The Braves are a great defensive club (more on that later) but the Dodgers aren’t so much. The Dodgers rank below league average in many defensive statistics. One category they’re close to league average is runners caught stealing. No one is going to confuse Grandal as being a giant weapon on defense but he did catch 20 runners in 72 attempts this year. Those numbers are good, but certainly not one that would scare you into staying put at first.