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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: 1st 2 weeks exactly as expected, right?

By Alan Carpenter

DENVER, CO - APRIL 8: Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson #7 dives into third base with a 2-RBI triple in the fifth inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on April 8, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 8: Atlanta Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson #7 dives into third base with a 2-RBI triple in the fifth inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on April 8, 2019 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 05: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies attempts to bunt against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Twins 10-4. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 05: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies attempts to bunt against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Twins 10-4. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Outside of Atlanta

If you think that Jekyll/Hyde Braves lineup is odd, check the Phillies:  winners of 3 games by 6 runs each, losers of 2 games by 4 and one game by 14.

They are scoring a lot of runs (9th overall despite fewer games than most teams), but they’re also giving up a ton (team ERA is 11th worst overall right now [Braves 16th]).

The cautionary tale for Philadelphia is that they’ve now played the Nats twice already (2-3 in those games) and you’d expect the Nats pitching to do good things against even that lineup.  Mostly, that’s been true.

However, the Nationals are also a little weird… until last night, their combined run difference had been 0 (zero) for a 5-5 record.  Their 15-run outburst Wednesday vaulted them to a tie for 4th overall with the Cubs(!) for runs scored in the majors… again, despite playing fewer games than most teams.

The Nats problem has actually been their pitching (5.42 ERA overall) – specifically their bullpen (7.79 ERA), and specifically Trevor Rosenthal (72.0 ERA in 1 official innings… over 5 outings).  That’s not a typo.

Turns out that only Sean Doolittle and Kyle Barraclough have done anything useful for the Nats in relief so far… that could be a real problem for them if it doesn’t turn around soon, for those 2 can’t pitch every day.

Meanwhile, the Mets are holding their own.  They have also played the Nats twice, going 3-3 in the process while sweeping Miami.

Their own bullpen hasn’t performed up to expectation either, but that is balanced against the fact that their offense is pounding the baseball well… 8th overall in team WAR with improved defense.

Atlanta will have their hands full with New York this weekend as a result… and thanks to an off-day, they are scheduled to run into Jacob deGrom on Sunday night’s ESPN game (vs. Max Fried… that could be fun).

An aside: Kinda glad that Atlanta didn’t have the Twins in the early part of the 2019 schedule… They haven’t exactly rolled over for our NL East rivals.

So all together… it’s as expected so far:  4 teams all jammed together at the top of the division.  Just about everyone could use better bullpen support and it’s the Braves that still have some room to produce offensively.

Just the way we Drew it up. dark. Next

The next 2 weeks bring us the Mets (4 games, 7-4 record), Arizona (3, 6-5), Cleveland (4, 7-4), Cincinnati (3, 3-8).   Hopefully the added confidence from the past 10 days will keep the winning ways going.

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