Atlanta Braves hot or not update: Bullpen woes and cold bats
By Fred Owens
Most of the Atlanta Braves offense ran into a cold front in LA and weren’t warmed up by the time they got to Phoenix. Here’s a look at who’s trending up and who needs to sit closer to the heater.
The 10 game stretch that included the last homestand and a visit to Little Havana for fish saw the Atlanta Braves average 5.1 runs a game while allowing an average of 4.6.
The Braves trip to LA saw a sharp reversal of those numbers; the lineup managed only 2.3 runs a game and the pitching staff generously allowed the Dodgers to average 7.7 runs a game.
The lineup was always going to have a tougher time in LA. Going into the series with the Atlanta Braves, Dodger starters ranked fifth in MLB with a 2.74 ERA and walked a league-leading low of 1.1 batters per nine innings pitched.
Compared to the starters, Dodgers relievers were generous to visitors, ranking ninth in MLB with a 3.93 ERA and their 2.8 walks per nine ranked fifth in the league.
When the Braves left town, that ERA had increased to 2.79 and walks per nine were up to 1.4 (yay I guess), but Dodger reliever ERA dropped to 3.52 while walks per nine were down to 2.6.
Swinging early in the AB is a bad idea if opposing pitchers tend to go deep into counts and walk batters… like for example our bullpen. Pitchers who throw strikes – particularly first strikes – and don’t walk batters as the Dodger starters do, make waiting less productive.
When Dodger starters get a hitter into a ‘pitcher’s count’, they manage a puny .188 average.
The hitters meeting before the series pointed out those tendencies and that led to the lineup taking a more aggressive approach early in the count. That’s a strategy many fans don’t agree with, but for some Atlanta Braves, it’s a good idea.