3 takeaways: First-place Atlanta Braves walk it off vs Pirates, keep streaking
The offense continues to surge at a scorching pace
The date was May 10th.
The State of the Braves was…less than stellar, to put it kindly.
The team was in the midst of a 4-game losing streak in which they had been embarrassed by the Los Angeles Dodgers and dropped the first game in a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The struggles prompted Braves manager Brian Snitker for a lineup shuffle: Ronald Acuna, Jr. as the new leadoff man, Dansby Swanson to the two-spot, Josh Donaldson at cleanup, and Ozzie Albies to the lower part of the order.
Things, as they say, haven’t been the same since.
Since that significant lineup tweak over a month ago, here’s a sampling of where the Braves have ranked compared to the rest of the National League:
- Runs scored: 3rd
- wRC+: 4th
- Home runs: 3rd
- OPS: 4th
The team’s record in that same stretch is now 21-9, and it goes to show that the offense is carrying the banner for Atlanta.
Wednesday against the Pirates was no different.
With the pitching not its sharpest, the lineup again proved to be the difference-maker.
Atlanta’s 8-run, 15-hit performance was an effort from top-to-bottom, with every single bat in the starting nine (even pitcher Mike Soroka) recording a base hit, and five of those nine Braves tallying multiple hits.
Sure, some bats stood out more than others: the trio at the top (Ronald Acuna, Dansby Swanson and Freddie Freeman) all had two hits apiece, while Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies provided the heroics late in the game.
For the Braves, though, it’s one of those wonderful stretches where – from a fan perspective – you get to sit back and enjoy a lineup in which nearly every hitter is either hot or heating up.
They don’t appear to be settling down anytime soon, and the Braves certainly have reason to believe that this lineup could very well continue at its record-pace in the days and weeks to come.