Atlanta Braves podcast S3E11: it’s all about the hitting

Today we launch a rebranding of sorts:  we’re going to call this podcast “Off Leo’s Rocker”, which celebrates the legacy of longtime Atlanta Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone with two old curmudgeons discussing the state of this team.

Why can’t these Atlanta Braves hit?  While batting average is now being dissed among the enlightened stat-mongers who comment on this great game of baseball, it clearly shouldn’t be dismissed, either.

Sure:  the Atlanta Braves are 5th in major league baseball in the number of home runs they’ve hit… but when you look at batting averages, they are sitting — as of this morning — at .224 as a team (24th overall).

Just look at the company the Braves are keeping in that statistical category:

• Baltimore Orioles (.228)
• Pittsburgh Pirates (.224)
• Texas Rangers (.220)
• Cincinnati Reds (.219)
• Detroit Tigers (.219)

Those teams aren’t very good, are they?  Yet these are the Braves’ nearest neighbors in hitting.

We know this team can hit better, but it seems they’ve fallen in love with the long ball, and many in this lineup aren’t doing the kinds of things that they are really built for.

There’s reasons for that happening… this year especially… and that’s a key part of the discussion this week as Fred and I get together in our rocking chairs to talk about it.

There are at least three good ways for you to hear this podcast, and that gets to our invitation for you to do just that right now:

• From your favorite podcast provider… and if you subscribe there, you’ll be among the first to find out when we drop new episodes.
• From this direct download link so that you can listen at your leisure and save the file for extortion purposes against us later.
• From this inline player

Regardless of your choice, we appreciate you giving us your time in this manner.  Hopefully we aren’t

completely

wasting those precious minutes.

But truly… getting the Braves bats going will continue to be a tough chore over the next couple of weeks, but if this club can get into the June schedule without burying themselves… things have a decent chance of turning around.

We’ll look forward to good things to talk about next week!