Atlanta Braves: Top 5 Most Clutch Hitters Since 1990
In today’s edition of Diggin’ Through Atlanta Braves’ history, we take a look at the top five high-leverage seasons since 1990.
What do we mean by the top five high-leverage seasons in Atlanta Braves‘ history?
Fangraphs actually uses an index that measures the leverage of each situation. They take into account the score, how many runners are on base, what inning, and how many outs. Essentially, they are able to pinpoint what is and what is not a clutch situation.
We are going to take a look a the top-five most-clutch regular seasons in Braves’ history based on the leverage index.
Notes: This list was compiled based on wRC+ and a minimum of 30 high-leverage at-bats in a single season.
Freddie Freeman (2013)
2012 marked the end of the Chipper Jones era and the beginning of Freddie Freeman’s. Freddie had a very solid 2012, blasting 23 homers and posting a .796 OPS but in 2013 he took another step forward. He picked up some of the weight that Chipper had been carrying and became a 23-year-old leader on one of the youngest teams in baseball. He improved his OPS nearly 100 points and made his first All-Star team.
Chipper left behind some rather large shoes to fill and Freeman proved he had just the giant clown feet to do so.
On top of the overall solid numbers, Freddie stepped up when the Braves needed him most. In high-leverage situations in 2013, Freeman hit an incredible .404 and walked in 18.3% of his high-leverage plate appearances. This was good for an OBP of .507 in such scenarios. So, when the pressure was on Freddie was getting on base in over half of his plate appearances that season.
Talk about leading by example. Ice water in his veins.
When it was all said in done, Freeman faced high-leverage situations in 71 plate appearances that season and earned 20 free passes with seven of them being of the intentional variety…
Remember those?
This was back in the day where the catcher had to stand up and step out and call for a soft toss while he whispered to Freddie “I’m sorry, we are just too frightened of you.” Then Freddie would tell the catcher, “It’s okay, I understand” and they would embrace in a hug before parting ways.
Freeman drove in 29 runs in just 57 at-bats. The Braves went on to win 96 games and the NL East… without Chipper Jones. Freddie Freeman had established himself as the new face of the franchise and secured the fifth-best clutch hitting season the Braves had seen since 1990 (according to Fangraphs). Freeman was exactly double the league average in high-leverage situations that season with a ludicrous-speed wRC+ of 200.
Matt Diaz (2009)
Matt Diaz came to the Braves in 2006 as a 28-year-old with just 48 career games under his belt with two organizations. He thrived while with the Braves hitting .327 and playing in 124 games his first season. The next season, he upped the average to .338, excelling as a destroyer of left-handed pitching.
In 2009 Matt Diaz set career highs in several categories. He was known as a lefty killer, and lefty killer he was. For his career, Diaz finished with a .322/.363/.495 slash against southpaws while he slugged just .360 against righties. When you look at his final numbers for 2009 you may assume that something clicked against righties that season, but that’s not quite the case.
He was fair enough against RHP with a .255/.349/.400 slash, but he turned the jets up against left-handed pitching. Diaz hit .412/.464/.640 in his specialty role in 2009.
Another area he excelled in 2009 was when the pressure was on.
The platoon player slashed .400/.489/.625 when the heat was on in 2009. Diaz posted an RBI every two high-leverage at-bats while scoring 20 runs in such situations. Diaz’s play would lead him to career highs in plate appearances (425), at-bats (371), runs scored (56), home runs (13), RBI (58), steals (12), OPS (.878), triples (4), and walks (35).
What many believed was a breakout season at age 31 turned out to be the peak of his career. Diaz’s OPS+ finished at a sparkling 132 but he would never break 100 again. He finished his career with a .290 average over 11 seasons, with the best coming in 2009 as an Atlanta Brave. That season wasn’t just his best major-league season, it was good for the fourth-best clutch hitting season on this list.
His wRC+ of 202 finished just two points higher than Freddie Freeman’s 2013. Granted, Diaz had 22 less high-leverage plate appearances than Freeman’s season, but based on our criteria, his 2009 season was good for fourth-best all-time in Braves history.
Cheers to Matt Diaz!
Gary Sheffield (2002)
Gary Sheffield came to Atlanta with 315 career homers already in his bat bag. He had already played in parts of 14 seasons with numbers as legendary as his signature bat waggle. His career slash stood at .295/.399/.521. Over 14 seasons his career OPS+ sat at 146.
Sheffield did not disappoint in his two seasons with the Braves. He hit over .300 in each season, posted an on-base percentage over .400 in each season, and slugged .512 and .600 respectively.
While his 2003 season may look better on the back of the baseball card, his 2002 was one of the most clutch regular seasons in Braves history. He excelled in high-leverage situations all season long. In his 56 clutch plate appearances, he mashed a .362/.446/.809 slash. That’s not a mistake. The .809 is his slugging percentage, not his OPS. His OPS was 1.255 in such situations in 2002.
Adding to the list of impressive achievements in blood-boiling situations, Sheffield struck out in just 5.4% of his PAs and walked at a 12.5% clip.
He finished the season with 25 home runs and six of them came in high-leverage situations. His six clutch homers are good enough to tie him with Chipper Jones (also 2002) for the most in any season since 1990. Just for your notes, Andruw Jones clobbered seven high-leverage homers in 2005.
Alas, Sheffield’s success with fans sitting on the edge of their seats ended with the regular season. The Braves lost to the Giants in the NLDS in five games. Gary hit just .063 in the series with an 0-13 skid at the tail end.
However, this article isn’t about clutch postseason performances, it’s about clutch regular seasons and Sheffield’s insane in the membrane 217 wRC+ in 2002 places him third on the list.
Brooks Conrad (2010)
We mentioned Sheffield’s clutch season not exactly translating to a clutch postseason. That notion is brought to the forefront with our second-best high-leverage, regular-season hitter since 1990: Brooks Conrad.
Conrad is infamous for his Division Series record-tying three errors in Game 3 against the Giants. Conrad was not good defensively in 2010… I mean it’s bad. He had a .903 fielding percentage at the hot corner.
He was like an error away from having a fielding percentage in the .800s. You don’t see that every day. He literally made an error on one out of every ten balls hit to him that year while playing third.
He finished 2010 with -7 defensive runs saved at third base in just 227 innings. His full-season pace (Rdrs/yr) was -36.
But this isn’t about the glovework or the fact that he hit .091 in 12 NLDS plate appearances. This is about clutch regular season hitting. Brooks was the king of the clutch hit during the regular season. Without Brooks’ clutch bat the Braves wouldn’t have won the 91 games it took to get them into the postseason.
Conrad helped the Braves complete a comeback of epic proportions on May 20th with the Reds visiting Turner Field. Reds reliever Mike Lincoln was in for mop-up duties with a six-run lead in the bottom of the final frame. The Braves slapped four straight singles off of him. A walk and an error put the Braves in position for their clutch-hitting superhero to continue writing his legacy.
Not Who You’d Expect
I’m obviously not talking about Brooks Conrad, the 30-year-old journeyman, I’m talking about rookie superstar Jason Heyward. The big man deflated the crowd as Arthur Rhodes put him down with three strikes. One out.
Conrad, a switch hitter, would now face the Reds’ closer, Francisco Cordero. Rhodes was a lefty and the closer was a righty, Conrad was about to hit with the wrong helmet on. He actually had to go back to the dugout to retrieve the correct helmet. This didn’t look good for the Braves.
Six pitches later, Conrad hit an opposite-field flyball to left fielder Laynce Nix. At the least, he had knocked in a run while making the second out. He must have been thinking something along those lines as rounded first and headed toward the dugout with his hands on his head, knowing he had just missed it.
He also missed the ball bouncing off of Laynce Nix’s glove and going over the wall for a walk-off grand slam. If you watch the video you can see him doing a 180 upon seeing the crowd’s reaction or hearing Chip Caray’s voice echoing from the booth. He proceeded to float around the bases, hitching a ride on the ninth cloud.
Conrad would be declared the Clutch Player of the Month in May, beating out Roy Halladay and his perfect game.
His final clutch numbers for the season were amazing. He was the pinch hitter you wanted to see in a pinch. For all of his defensive miscues, his bat went a long way in helping the Braves to the playoffs that season. He finished with a high-leverage wRC+ of 254.
1. Chipper Jones (2005)
It should be no surprise that Chipper Jones is at the top of this list. If you are surprised he’s only on here once then allow me to calm your nerves. Chipper has three seasons inside of the top eleven since 1990.
Chipper Jones Best Clutch Seasons by wRC+
6. 2008 – 158 wRC+ // 1.012 OPS (28th since 1990)
5. 2010 – 163 wRC+ // .999 OPS (24th since 1990)
4. 2007 – 174 wRC+ // 1.116 OPS (19th since 1990)
3. 2012 – 185 wRC+ // 1.066 OPS (11th since 1990)
2. 2002 – 194 wRC+ // 1.172 OPS (8th since 1990
And that brings us to not only his best clutch-hitting season but the best the Braves have seen since 1990, according to Fangraphs. In 2005, Chipper was a veteran superstar at age 33 who struggled with injuries in what would be the final title in an amazing streak of 14 consecutive NL East titles.
The Braves lost two stars to free agency prior to the season in J.D. Drew and Jared Wright. In the first week of June they were in fourth place. Raul Mondesi was showing the world that he was done as a major leaguer. Brian Jordan appeared to be a shadow of himself. The bullpen was really just a bunch of bull. Things were not well with the Braves. Luckily
Then, Jeff Francouer exploded onto the scene. Andruw Jones took his game to another level, which was inconceivable prior to doing so. Jones would end the season with 51 homers and 128 RBI. Marcus Giles hit .291 and Rafael Furcal stole 46 bases and both middle infielders scored 100+ runs.
John Smoltz left his spot as arguably the best closer in baseball to better help the team as a starting pitcher. He was magnificent, starting 33 games and posting a 3.06 ERA, making his sixth All-Star team at 38-years-old.
The Braves would go on to win the division by just two games. While we remember that Chipper’s injuries were an obstacle that the Baby Braves overcame, Chipper’s contributions were enormous when he played.
Larry played in just 109 games that season but he still hit .295 with a .412 on-base percentage and an outstanding .556 slugging percentage. He swatted 21 homers, 30 doubles, 72 RBI, and even swiped five bags.
The most impressive stats came when the game hung in the balance for the Braves superstar.
Despite an injury-riddled and shortened season, he stilled came to the plate 48 times in high-leverage situations. He hit .513 with a 1.026 slugging percentage. Read it again… I’ll wait.
He didn’t post a .513 OBP (which would be incredible), his batting average was .513. His 2005 clutch slash line was as follows: .513/.604/.1.026. That’s an OPS of 1.630!
Chipper’s wRC+ in high-leverage situations in 2005 was an astonishing 313.
Next. Podcast: Chatting with Chase d'Arnaud. dark
All hail the king!