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.