Atlanta Braves: The scope of Josh Donaldson’s impact
Josh Donaldson tuned out the noise early in the season and then brought some fireworks once he settled in with the Atlanta Braves.
The Bringer of Rain’s season was a success in every possible facet for him and the Atlanta Braves.
In a season that featured many distinguished moments for Josh Donaldson, it’s only fitting that the first one came against the New York Mets for the new Braves slugger.
Still hitting second in the lineup at this point in time (more on that later), Donaldson put a pretty swing on a Robert Gsellman fastball and gave Atlanta fans a taste of what was to come many more times throughout the year.
Between the leg kick, admiring the ball as it jumped off his bat, and the opposite field power that deposited the ball into the Braves’ bullpen, those in Braves country who hadn’t seen Donaldson play much in the AL immediately knew they were in for a treat.
“I’m sure the weight of the world is off his shoulders,” Braves play-by-play announcer Chip Caray said after what was Donaldson’s first RBI of the season, as well in that April 13 game against the Mets.
It was the 14th game of the campaign and proved to be a real watershed moment for Donaldson.
Almost every game prior was devoid of an extra-base hit and he yielded a meager .625 OPS (on-base pct + slugging pct) to that point.
The next 13 games were a complete 180. Donaldson had four home runs, four doubles, and his eye-popping OPS over this period of 1.103 was nearly double his prior output.
For most of the meat of the regular season, before he started to get rested at the end, Donaldson stayed consistent and his numbers vaulted up into the realm of where we expect to see a player of his caliber.
Donaldson finished the year with 37 regular season home runs, which ranked him tied for No. 15 in Major League Baseball and tied for No. 9 in the National League, but it was probably not his most impressive achievement, all things considered.
Earning 100 walks on the season, Donaldson was the first Brave to hit triple digits since Chipper did so in 2009.
While it was showcased in 2017 that Donaldson and Chipper have entirely different approaches to hitting, it was undeniable that Donaldson was the most productive third baseman the Braves have had since Chipper hung ’em up.
Here are some more numbers from Donaldson’s season to further prove that, from baseballsavant.mlb.com:
- 98th percentile — Exit Velocity (92.9 mph)
- 97th percentile — Hard Hit % (50%)
- 93rd percentile — expected wOBA* (.386)
- 88th percentile — expected slugging (.514)
*expected weighted on-base average considers exit velocity, launch angle, and sprint speed in order to calculate how the ways in which a player reaches base correlates to runs scored.
It seemed like whenever Donaldson wasn’t walking to first after a base on balls, he was jogging around the bases (sometimes with an invisible umbrella in his right hand).
While the Braves primarily got Donaldson to add more depth to the lineup, he shined in other aspects of his game, as well.
That glove was golden
To the shock of nobody who got to watch him man the hot corner in 2019, Donaldson was named a finalist for the 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award on Thursday.
This development turned out to be one of the most pleasant surprises of the season for Atlanta as it was widely speculated that Donaldson, coming off calf injuries in his age-32 season, would be a step down from Johan Camargo with the glove.
Not only was there no step down, but there’s also a legitimate chance the Braves bring home their first Gold Glove at the position since Terry Pendleton earned one in 1992.
Before Josh Donaldson came to Braves, I had no idea he was this good of a defensive player.
— Jeff Schultz (@JeffSchultzATL) October 3, 2019
NL managers and coaching staffs vote on who wins the award, so Atlanta Braves country can only hope that the powers that be find a computer and do their due diligence before just penciling in Nolan Arenado for the hundredth straight time or giving Anthony Rendon the nod because he had a good season at the plate, too.
After Brandon Crawford won the NL shortstop award over Andrelton Simmons in 2015, Braves fans may have trouble relinquishing the benefit of the doubt in this particular scenario.
However, there is a legitimate case to be made for Donaldson, who has never won the award before.
Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) paints Donaldson in the best light. With multiple components involved including range, double play aptitude, and play on bunts, Fielding Bible calculates the metric to find the best overall defensive player at each position.
With a 15 DRS, Donaldson saved his team 15 more runs than the average third baseman would.
In this particular stat, Donaldson lapped the field. As Alan Carpenter mentioned in his breakdown of how Donaldson stacks up against Rendon and Arenado, he nearly doubles Arenado’s 8 DRS and beats Rendon’s 2 DRS easily.
The other advanced stats, including UZR (ultimate zone rating) are more kind to Arenado, who has clearly won the Gold Glove six straight times for a reason, but it should be noted that Arenado did lead the NL in DRS five of the six years that he won the award.
Even if Donaldson doesn’t win the award, Braves fans and the Atlanta Braves brass alike had plenty reason to be thrilled about the type of production that he provided on the defensive side.
Clubhouse chemistry was there
One of the most memorable Donaldson moments from the season was when he caused the benches to clear because he didn’t like the way Joe Musgrove was looking at him.
Benches clear in Atlanta.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 11, 2019
Josh Donaldson had some words for Joe Musgrove after he was hit by a pitch.
(via @FOXSportsBraves) pic.twitter.com/Qh9LZvfSRe
Not only did Donaldson go on an offensive tear after this game, it highlighted the cocky swagger that he brought to the Atlanta Braves, which was not as loud among other veterans on the team.
While there is clearly intrinsic value derived from Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis, Brian McCann, and Dallas Keuchel‘s more quiet, lead-by-example approaches on the field, I believe that Donaldson’s personality alone made an impact in that the team can’t help but to exude more confidence when he’s on the field with them.
Contrary to what someone whose only exposure to Donaldson thus far has been watching the YouTube compilation of him getting pissed off might think, he’s not a selfish player.
In fact, his willingness to move to the cleanup spot in the lineup, despite the illustrious success that he’d had in the 2-hole throughout his career, helped Freddie Freeman and the Braves, as a whole.
More from Tomahawk Take
- Show the bullpen some love
- Braves News: Atlanta’s left field situation, Dansby negotiations, more
- Alex Anthopoulos discusses the Atlanta Braves payroll, rotation, Grissom, Swanson, Acuña, and more
- Braves News: Braves 2023 rotation speculation, Correa deal on hold, more
- Atlanta Braves: Current Left Field Mix
That particular lineup change was a necessary one as Brian Snitker needed someone to turn to as a cleanup option once he realized that Acuña is much better suited as the team’s leadoff hitter.
Donaldson’s very solid 132 wRC+, which means that he created 32% more runs than a league-average player would, as a cleanup hitter made the Braves lineup much more dangerous than when Markakis was penciled into the 4-spot every day in 2018.
Once Snitker’s tinkering with the lineup slowed and it became clear what the first four or five names were going to be on the lineup card day in and day out, Donaldson’s value to the Braves became even higher because he allowed it to all fit.
While Ozzie Albies did some fine work as the team’s leadoff hitter for 29 games, his best came when he had a 117 wRC+ hitting second in the lineup.
Similarly, Freddie Freeman had an offensive boost in part because of Donaldson hitting behind him as his OPS was .911 in games before and .947 in games after.
This season showed the Atlanta Braves front office and fans alike why Donaldson would be an excellent option to bring back in free agency.
At his best he’s one of the best players on the team and brings emotion on the field that energizes the team.
While at his least, he’s a talented cleanup hitter who seemed to enjoy his time with the team and quality cleanup hitters are hard to find.
Next. Predicting the Braves offseason. dark
Here’s to hoping JD and the Atlanta Braves can strike a deal this offseason that brings back the Bringer of Rain.