Will Atlanta Braves Set MLB All-Time Strikeout Record in 2022?
The Atlanta Braves are on pace to break the all-time record for most strikeouts in a season. This isn’t just in franchise history but in all of Major League Baseball history. Can they be fixed?
Today, we will examine the Atlanta Braves and their record-setting pace to become strike out more than any team in the history of baseball over the course of a single season.
As you all know, strikeout numbers continue to balloon out of control. It’s just the reality of the game. We all hope that these numbers will start to head the other direction with the de-juiced balls and…
Wouldn’t it make more sense to call them juiced balls? If you juice an orange, that means you are taking the juice out of the orange, right? Leaving it a dried, whithered shell of its former self. That seems to resemble what has happened to the baseballs this year.
Anyway, with the freshly squeezed balls, power is down.
Impact of Freshly Squeezed Balls in 2022
Note: all stats cited are current as of Sat., May 28.
- 2021: MLB Slugging % Thru 05/28: .411
- 2022: MLB Slugging % Thru 05/28: .384
Soon, teams must adapt to the ball’s lower gas mileage. But how?
The obvious answer is to reintroduce the rampant use of steroids and HGH.
Actually, no.
Officially, the answer is that teams will have to start focusing on putting the ball in play more. This means they must start striking out less. Before front offices begin optimizing their squads to flush the three true outcomes turds, we may see an unfortunate record as the game makes the transition.
The Atlanta Braves Swing and Miss More Than Anyone Ever
The Atlanta Braves are striking out more than any other team in baseball.
The team’s 465 strikeouts are 21 ahead of the second-worst Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves are striking out nearly 10 times per game! As of this writing, the official number stands at 9.89 Ks per game.
The league average K% is 22.3% thus far in 2022. Atlanta Braves players are striking out in 26.8% of their plate appearances. The Atlanta Braves strikeout percentage is 20% higher than the league average.
The Bravos are currently on pace to set the franchise’s single-season record for strikeouts in a season. In 2019, the Braves set the dubious record with 1,467.
Only twice have the Braves ever finished with more than 1,400 strikeouts.
This season the Braves are currently on pace for 1,602 strikeouts. That puts them on track to set the all-time record for strikeouts in a season, a figure that would surpass last year’s Chicago Cubs by six.
On the bright side, (as a result of swinging and missing so much) the Braves have hit into the seventh-fewest groundball double plays. So there’s a little happy spin on it…Does that make you happy?
Which Atlanta Braves Are Striking Out the Most & Can They Be Fixed?
In the next slides, we’ll take a look at the Atlanta Braves who are striking out the most. We will compare them to their career numbers and see if they can get this ship turned around.
In conclusion, I’ll let you know if the Braves will actually set the record.
Atlanta Braves Fifth-Worst Strikeout Offender – Dansby Swanson
Dansby Swanson has struck out in 30.9% of his PAs this season. How does that compare to his track record?
Through the 2019 season, Swanson had never exceeded a 23% strikeout percentage. Since the beginning of the 2020 season, Dansby has carried a 26.8% strikeout percentage. In addition to the increased K-rate, he brought along an increase in power. Over that same time, his slugging percentage is considerably higher.
A Tale of Two Dansbys
2016-2019: .245/.318/.385, 84 OPS+, 22.5 K%, PA/HR Ratio: 44.35
2020-2022: .258/.324/.452, 102 OPS+, 26.8%, PA/HR Ratio: 25.53
As you can see, there is a conspicuous difference in the power numbers. As the K-rate has risen, so has his production at the plate. If Dansby can maintain his increased power and overall production at the plate, a 26.8% strikeout rate is digestible. Let’s hope his power numbers hold up by the end of the season.
It doesn’t seem very likely that his current strikeout numbers will carry through the season. He is a streaky hitter. He has hot streaks and cold streaks. In the month of May, Dansby is slashing .315/.374/.528 with a strikeout percentage (26.3%) more in line with what he’s done since 2020.
Over his last 10 games, Swanson has posted a 1.068 OPS and struck out just five times in 42 plate appearances. He’s bringing that strikeout percentage down on the daily. Dansby will do his part to prevent the Braves from reaching this undesirable milestone.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the next player.
Atlanta Braves Fourth-Worst Strikeout Offender – Adam Duvall
Adam Duvall doesn’t have a lot of room for rough stretches. Over his nine major-league seasons, he has a .229 average. If Duvall isn’t cranking homers then his bat creates a massive hole in the lineup. Right now he is hitting a minuscule .188 and has 59 strikeouts in 46 games.
It’s easy to accept the holes in his profile when he’s clobbering moonshots and hitting .900 with RISP (not officially). However, during times such as these, his inability to get on base or even put the ball in play shines so brightly in your eyes that you may prefer staring directly into the sun rather than look at his stats.
In 2021, Duvall led the league in RBI and was a key mid-season re-acquisition for the soon-to-be heavy-weight champions of the baseball world. I’d like to tell you the good news is that Duvall’s current K-Rate of 33.1% is much higher than what he posted last year.
Sorry, I can’t. Last year Duvall was the only player on the Braves with more than 100 plate appearances with a strikeout rate over 30%. He finished the season with a 31.9% strikeout rate. So, he’s kind of in line with that now.
In fact, of all Braves players with more than 68 PAs last year, Duvall had the worst K% on the team. The only other players to surpass him had very small sample sizes. Duvall was the worst among all regular players.
Will Adam Duvall turn it around? Geez, I hope so.
Basically, he’s either going to hit homers or he’s going to be terrible. Boom or bust.
Two months into the season, Duvall is sitting on just two homers. He has just nine extra-base hits and a .269 slugging percentage. If you are a gambling person, wagering on Duvall to get out in any given plate appearance is a pretty safe bet.
Maybe the underlying stats show signs of hope?
No. I would tell you to take a look at his Baseball Savant page but… it hurts worse than watching Donald Trump stare directly into a solar eclipse without any protective eyewear.
You know what? Feel the pain.
— Seth Carter (@CarterFamilyIns) May 29, 2022
Duvall has a history of falling into such epic slumps that teams can’t afford to use a major-league roster spot on him. If things don’t turn around soon, the slugger may find himself in that unenviable position soon. The outlook is not good right now. Let’s hope he can figure it out.
Atlanta Braves Third-Worst Strikeout Offender – Travis Demeritte
In what began as a feel-good story in the early part of the season, longtime Braves minor-leaguer turned Tigers major-leaguer turned Braves minor-leaguer, Travis Demeritte was sent down to make room for Michael Harris.
He made his first appearance in the 15th game of the season. Between April 22-May14, Demeritte hit .327 with a .914 OPS. Meanwhile, he struck out in 29% of his plate appearances. That may sound high, but in 92 career major-league games, Travis Demeritte has posted a 34.6% strikeout percentage. That’s 109 SOs in just 315 PAs. Ouch.
While the initial hot streak was fun, it’s not much of a surprise that it fell apart.
Atlanta Braves Second-Worst Strikeout Offender – Ronald Acuna Jr.
Ronald Acuna Jr. gets a free pass. Of Braves players with 85+ plate appearances, Acuna leads the way in strikeout percentage with an unfortunate 34.1%.
Now, Acuna’s career K% is just over 26%. He’s coming off of a catastrophic injury and despite the strikeouts, he’s still producing at the plate. You have to think that K% will come down as the season progresses. Keep in mind, that 85 plate appearances is still a very small sample size. This one is a non-issue. I really just wanted a reason to post a picture of Acuna on this page.
Atlanta Braves Worst Strikeout Offender – Guillermo Heredia
I’m not going to say much about this. Guillermo Heredia is not known for his bat. In fact, if anyone knows him for his bat they know how ineffective it is.
Over seven major-league seasons, Heredia has a .656 OPS. His career batting average is .231.
The reality is, that he sticks around for his glove.
But holy crap his bat is bad this year. The man known for playing with toy swords in the dugout now looks like he is using a plastic sword to try and hit the baseball this year.
I caught it, you're out.
— Baseball Movie Quotes (@BaseballMovieQ) September 20, 2017
But I tipped it, it hit the bat.
You're still out.
You're still fat.#Benchwarmers #YoureNotASword pic.twitter.com/FLxcT17cDs
The interesting part about Heredia is his career strikeout percentage is only 19.8%. This season, he has struck out in 48.8% of his PAs. Granted, he only has 43 PAs.
But come on man! The dude has 21 strikeouts in 43 trips to the batter’s box.
Judging by his career numbers, I’d venture to guess he improves on his current mark. If he doesn’t, he won’t see the plate much more.
Why the Atlanta Braves Will Not Set the Strikeout Record
The other notable name not on the list is Austin Riley. Riley is an everyday player with 200 PAs and has a 28.5% strikeout percentage. That’s a fair amount higher than his 25.4% from last season.
Braves standout prospect Michael Harris was called up yesterday. The 21-year-old brings a lot of tools to the table, including a career 18.96 K% in the minor leagues. Whether that translates to the bigs remains to be seen, but he’s a smart replacement for Travis Demeritte.
If Duvall doesn’t start producing homers then he will have to be removed from the lineup… [ed note: that actually happened on Sunday afternoon].
Acuna is still not ready for everyday action in the outfield.
Eddie Rosario is continuing his recovery from his eye injury. Rosario struck out in just 13.2% of his 106 PAs with the Braves last season. His slow start is attributed to “blurred vision and swelling in the right eye.” Rosario had been dealing with these issues since spring training.
Reports indicate that Rosario is getting better every day. Getting Rosario’s bat with full eyesight back in the lineup would be a tremendous boost to the club. It would add much-needed outfield aid. It could help prevent the Braves from setting the record for the most strikeouts in a single season in the history of Major League Baseball.
We really don’t have a timetable for his return.
What do you think? Will the Braves set the all-time mark for strikeouts in a single season?
The current record was set by the Chicago Cubs just last year. They posted 1,596 strikeouts. Remember, the Braves are currently on pace for 1,602 strikeouts.
Some of the numbers will regress to the mean. The Braves have also shown a propensity to try and replace the players who are really struggling. Swapping out Demeritte for Harris is an example. The barrage of trades last season (which brought in Rosario) also come to mind. The front office will continue to patch the holes until they find the right formula. I don’t believe they will maintain this torrid pace for the entirety of the year.
Reasons to be Optimistic About Matt Olson. dark. Next
One thing is for sure. As bad as it feels right now to watch the Braves strike out at a historic rate, imagine being a Cubs fan last season. They maintained that level of ineptitude over an entire year. That’s really impressive.