Braves in May: The Team Actually Won and Role Players Stepped Up

We take a look back at home the Atlanta Braves did in the month of May both as a team and individually through two months of action. 

Not much really changed for this Atlanta Braves team in the month of May. They’ve still been a highly inconsistent team who hovers around the .500 mark.

Despite all that, they finish May just a game under .500, in second place in the NL East, and just three games back of the New York Mets.

As bad as everything has gone for this team through the first two months, everything they hoped to accomplish this season is still within reach.

But it’s getting to the point now where you can’t say there is a lot of time left. That excuse is only good for about another month as we inch closer to the All-Star break.

Before we turn the page to June, let’s take a quick look at how the Braves fared in May.

Braves as a Team in May

The Braves actually finished the month of May with a win over the Nationals on Memorial Day, and that gave them a winning record for the month at 13-12.

Offensively in May, they slashed .234/.308/.441 with a .748 OPS as a team. They did average a little over 5 runs a game in May, but that includes a 20-run game against the Pirates.

Atlanta had four scheduled off days in May but also had the two rainouts in New York, so they had a total of six off days and played the fewest games in the month.

The team ERA in May was 3.78, which ranked 11th in all of baseball. Their 1.30 WHIP ranked 15th.

Braves’ starters had a 3.18 ERA in the month with a WHIP of 1.18. The bullpen had a 4.73 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.

Braves Individually in May

Ronald Acuna Jr. led the team in home runs this past month with 8, but Austin Riley was right behind him with 7. And a bit surprisingly, Dansby Swanson was third in May for home runs with 6.

Riley and Swanson were also 1-2 on the team in hits over May with 28 and 27 respectively. They also hit .311 and .290 for the month.

Riley, Swanson, and Acuna were top three on the team in OPS at 1.005, .876, and .842 respectively. They were the only regulars that had an OPS over .800 in the month.

On the mound, Tyler Matzek was great out of the bullpen throwing 9 scoreless innings allowing just 4 hits and 3 walks with 12 strikeouts in 9 innings pitched.

It was also huge having Chris Martin back as he threw 6 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts and just 1 hit allowed with zero walks.

Somebody else coming back from an injury that was huge was Max Fried. He made 4 starts in May with a 1.50 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 25 innings.

And while I’ve been as harsh on him as anyone, Luke Jackson was really good this past month with the most appearances on the team (12) and a 1.74 ERA in 10.1 innings with 13 strikeouts and a 1.06 WHIP.

While it might not have been the month we hoped for, it was still a winning month for the Braves and some players got going offensively (Riley and Swanson) that we really needed to get going.

The schedule in June is no terrible, but they will face the New York Mets six times thanks to those rainouts. At some point, the Braves have to assert their dominance over them if they’re going to win the division.