In the biggest week of the year, the Atlanta Braves starting pitching was utterly dominant against two of the best teams in all of baseball.
There have been some questions about the Atlanta Braves starting rotation throughout the year, especially when going up against good teams like the Mets.
But this past week proved that when at their best, not only are the Braves capable of beating any team in baseball, but their starters are able of shutting down any lineup.
Going up against the Mets and Astros — teams that rank fourth and sixth in runs scored — Braves starters allowed just 13 earned runs over 7 games in 41.2 IP on 32 hits and 9 walks with 51 strikeouts.
That’s an ERA of 2.81 and a WHIP of 0.99.
Eight of those hits and 5 of those runs were allowed by Jake Odorizzi.
Max Fried, Charlie Morton, Spencer Strider, and Kyle Wright are showing they’re capable of going toe-to-toe with any starting rotation in baseball.
Braves Starters by the Numbers
The numbers for Braves starters this year don’t blow you away.
They are 10th in ERA at 3.82, 13th in WHIP at 1.25, 9th in average against, and 22nd in BB/9.
That hardly qualifies as being considered one of the best rotations in baseball.
A lot of that is due to Ian Anderson and his 5.00 ERA and 4.35 BB/9.
Charlie Morton has also been a little up-and-down this year and just got his ERA under four for the first time since his second start of the season.
But if you look at those top four in the rotation, those are the arms you’re relying on in the postseason.
Max Fried: 2.60 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, .234 AVG, 8.24 K/9, 1.55 BB/9
Charlie Morton: 3.99 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .225 AVG, 10.91 K/9, 3.13 BB/9
Spencer Strider: 2.95 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, .181 AVG, 13.50 K/9, 3.31 BB/9
Kyle Wright: 3.14 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .236 AVG, 8.70 K/9, 2.56 BB/9
The biggest of those is Charlie Morton. If the Braves are going to make any noise in the postseason, they need him to be that co-ace with Max Fried at the top.
He’s been that for the most part in August with a 2.49 ERA in 4 starts with 38 strikeouts and just 5 walks in 25.1 innings.
Really, he’s been much better since the start of June, but in some starts, there seems to be that one inning that gets away from him.
But if he’s pitching like the Morton we signed up for along with the breakout season for Kyle Wright and the dominance of Spencer Strider, you feel really good about the Braves chances in the postseason.