What Atlanta Braves fans think of the team as we start 2019

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ATLANTA, GA – OCTOBER 07: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game Three of the National League Division Series at SunTrust Park on October 7, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

The Hitter Questions

H1: Freeman, Donaldson, Acuna… which hitter will have the higher OPS (On-base% + Slugging%)? [Hitter must qualify for batting title]

Acuna (54.7%)
Donaldson (5.6%)
Freeman (39.6%)

This was one of the few ‘3-way’ questions, and I admit being surprised at the level of support for Josh Donaldson. Of course many of you may have answered with a thought that he could be injured at some point or another, and thus he could fail on the ‘qualification’ reason.

I didn’t assign an ‘Optimism’ tag here, for there wasn’t necessarily an answer that would lead to that alone… what we really want to see is this trio form a “murderer’s row” that terrorizes opponents all year long.

That said, your faith in Acuna’s abilities is certainly optimistic as you believe he won’t have anything resembling a ‘Sophomore Slump’.

H2: Dansby Swanson and Johan Camargo: who gets more plate appearance in 2019?

Camargo (43.1%)
Swanson (56.9%)

I dunno… which of these represents better optimism? In my thinking, Johan gets more plate appearances only in these scenarios:

Josh Donaldson is injured for a while
Dansby Swanson is bad at baseball

(Maybe also if half the games go into extra innings, but that’s not terribly likely)

So to a great extent, you could argue that the team is probably doing better when Camargo isn’t getting reps, which is not entirely good news since he’s still a very useful bat off the bench… but on balance it’s probably good if Swanson ends up with more.

H3: In 2018, the Braves tied St. Louis for 5th in regular season runs scored with 759. In 2019, the team will score…

769 runs or fewer (34.2%)
770 runs or more (65.8%) OPTIMISM

No doubts here: y’all believe that the Atlanta Braves will be run-scoring machines in 2019, and that is clearly consistent with the idea of more wins and a strong finish.

Improving on 2018’s numbers will be difficult, but that should be doable with what appears to be an improved offense.

H4: Ronald Acuña Jr. will be an All-Star in 2019.

True (96.9%) OPTIMISM
False (the lurking Nats fans)

Wow. That was probably the most overwhelming answer to any single question I’ve asked in all the years we’ve done this survey.

Sure, I expected a big number, but not that big. You guys are obviously very high on the kid and it will be fun to watch him do his thing for the entire season… hopefully including the All-Star game.

H5: As a team, the Atlanta Braves hitters will strike out less AND walk more than in 2018 (regular season only). [20.6% K rate; 8.2% walk rate]

True (55.5%) OPTIMISM
False (44.5%)

Finally – found the middle ground where we get a near-even balance of answers. Still, this is the optimistic viewpoint: that the Braves will improve their hitting overall with more walks and fewer K’s.

It is reasonable to guess this direction. Josh Donaldson represents the biggest lineup change and his career walk rate is easily better at 12% (and 14% last season). His career K-rate is also better at 19.1%.

Likewise, Brian McCann is on the ‘improved’ side of these numbers, too. So that could be a good call – and good for the team in general.

Now the pitching questions… This should be interesting.

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