Atlanta Braves: Adam Duvall Struggling with the New Ball?
By Seth Carter
The Atlanta Braves strung their longest winning streak of the season Saturday against the Rockies. After hitting a home run Saturday, we examine Adam Duvall’s struggles and if he can turn it around.
The Atlanta Braves have reached a winning percentage of .500 and hopefully are ready to keep climbing. The Braves are currently in second place, 8.5 games behind the New York Mets. Matt Olson, Travis d’Arnaud, and Dansby Swanson have been heating up. Despite not homering since April 23, Ozzie Albies is hitting .290 since May 18.
While there are always a lot of places to point fingers, today we’ll take a look at Adam Duvall‘s struggles and why the Braves need him to get hot.
Atlanta Braves Need Adam Duvall to Heat Up
The Braves have been piecing together a patchwork outfield this season. Ronald Acuna Jr. continues easing his way back in with only 13 starts in the outfield this season. Eddie Rosario suffered an eye injury that required surgery. Although there is still no timetable for his return, he has started throwing and hitting.
This has left the Braves with Duvall, Marcell Ozuna, and a need to reach into the minor leagues for some talent. Travis Demeritte had a run earlier in the year; now it’s Michael Harris‘ turn.
To compound the issues, Adam Duvall has been really bad this year.
Duvall is hitting just .192 with a .286 slugging percentage. Duvall is a strikeout machine with 237 punchouts in his last 199 games. This season he has struck out in 31.5% of his plate appearances.
Despite homering in Saturday’s game against the Rockies, there still are not many indications of a turnaround for the outfielder.
Is the de-juiced ball affecting his power?
Is he done?
Is this just a two-month slump from which he is about to spring forth with the might and grace of a bald eagle drinking a martini on a day off from his clearly rigorous workout routine (muscular bald eagle), tossing the team on his back for a barrage of light-tower homers?
These are some of the questions I have been hearing regarding Adam Duvall. All mostly good questions.