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5 Best Atlanta Braves' Bats Since the All-Star Break

We take a look at which Atlanta Braves players have been the best since the All-Star Break.

By Seth Carter |
93rd MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard
93rd MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard / Steph Chambers/GettyImages
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The Atlanta Braves are the best team in baseball but they are only 13-12 since the All-Star break. The holes in the starting pitching rotation have been starting to leak, despite the return of Max Fried.

Also Read: 5 Reasons Braves Won't Win World Series

Despite the so-so record, some of the players have been dominant since the break. Here are five guys you can't blame the mediocre record on.

No. 5 Best Atlanta Braves Bat Since All-Star Break

Orlando Arcia is having a breakout season in 2023. His selection as the team's starting shortstop at the beginning of the year has been well documented here, including in the article I just linked. Arcia has been a positive influence on the clubhouse, one of the top defensive players on the team, and one of the top overall defensive players (according to Fangraphs' DEF) in the league.

Arcia doesn't strikeout out much and puts the ball in play a lot. He has had several clutch hits this season. He is so good at shortening his swing up and making solid contact when the pressure is on. This season Arcia is hitting .290 with an 0-2 count. He has an .887 OPS when in late and close situations.

Since the All-Star Break, Arcia ranks fifth in bWAR on the team. He has a .306 batting average with six homers, six doubles, 14 singles,15 runs scored, and 15 runs batted in. Since the break, Arcia is sixth on the team in hard-hit rate with over 37% of his balls in play registering an exit velocity of over 95 mph. The five guys in front of the shortstop carry a lot of notoriety with slugging reputations. Hard-hit rate leaders in front of Arcia? Riley, Acuna, Olson, Albies, Ozuna... Insert Arcia Here.

Arcia is slugging .588 since the break with a .375 OBP. If you add those together (is that arbitrary?) You get an OPS of .963 since the All-Star break. Which, by the way, Arcia was your National League starting shortstop in the All-Star Game. That Dansby Swanson guy was his backup.

Also Read: Comparing Dansby Swanson and Orlando Arcia in 2023

For a guy who left the Brewers with a 73 OPS+, these numbers are insane. Arcia is on a three-year deal with the Braves that will take him through his age-31 season. He continues to make the Braves front office look like a Mensa convention.

No. 4 Best Atlanta Braves Bat Since All-Star Break

Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves shows off his new red oven mitt.
Michael Harris II of the Atlanta Braves shows off his new red oven mitt. / Justin K. Aller/GettyImages

My Man Michael Harris II has been putting on a clinic since the break. He has obtained a temporary teacher's license and class is in session. Harris had such a rough start to the year, it looked like the Braves might need to send him down. Some were beginning to wonder if the Braves had jumped the gun on the big extension he signed.

Harris has remained a constant on defense for the Braves this season, but he didn't let the slow start with the wood get him down for too long. His hot streak goes beyond the All-Star break. You can read more about Harris' overall season here.

I'll sum the year up for him by leaving you with a couple of stats. On June 6, Harris was hitting .163. After last night's game, he's hitting .291.

Since the All-Star break, Harris II is fourth on the team with a 170 wRC+. He is slashing .388/.436./.576 since the mid-summer popularity contest. Harris' 13.7% K% is tied for best on the team with Ronald Acuna Jr. If it feels like every time he puts the ball in play there's a good chance he's getting a hit, that's because his BABIP is .437 since the break.

Since the break, Harris leads the team in doubles with eight and is second in steals with four. Harris has really turned his season around and continues to stay hot since the break. It's been a pleasure to watch Money Mike regain his Rookie of the Year form.

No. 3 Best Atlanta Braves Bat Since All-Star Break

Ozzie Albies reads Bram Stoker's Dracula out loud to Acuna during the 7th inning stretch. Knowledge is power.
Ozzie Albies reads Bram Stoker's Dracula out loud to Acuna during the 7th inning stretch. Knowledge is power. / Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/GettyImages

Ronald Acuna Jr. is still the favorite for the NL MVP. He's on pace for somewhere around 40 homers and 80 steals. I'm getting lazy, I usually calculate the projections on everything but at the end of the day (or the beginning) all you'll remember is roughly what the projections are. Plus, they change after every game. He's having a great power/speed season. I hope he's on your fantasy teams.

Since the All-Star break, Acuna Jr. leads the team in steals with 12. The next closes is Michael Harris II with four.

Since the break, Acuna has a 13.7% walk rate and a 13.7% strikeout rate.

Since the break, Acuna is slashing .357/.462/.571. His .462 OBP is the fifth-best in all of baseball since the respite. While Acuna's numbers since the All-Star break are impressive, they are right in line with what he's done all season long. This is why he is the favorite for the N.L. MVP in 2023.

Acuna's OPS since the All-Star break: 1.033

Acuna's OPS for the entire '23 season: 1.000 (3rd-best in MLB behind Freeman and Ohtani)

Acuna's AVG since the All-Star break: .357

Acuna's AVG for 2023 season: .337

Acuna's K% Since the All-Star break: 13.7%

Acuna's K% for 2023 season: 12.4%

So there are a few examples of how Acuna has just been Acuna since the break. What an incredible season! He isn't on this list because he's on a hot streak. He's on the list because his entire 2023 season has been a hot streak. Acuna Jr. is a generational talent and he's 100% healthy. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a long illustrious, Hall-of-Fame career. Enjoy!

No. 2 Best Atlanta Braves Bat Since All-Star Break

Austin Riley does not give the middle finger to the fans, despite loving Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Austin Riley does not give the middle finger to the fans, despite loving Stone Cold Steve Austin. / Rich Schultz/GettyImages

Austin Riley has been on a tear. Since the All-Star Break, he is tied for the league-lead in home runs with teammate Matt Olson. Both guys have 11 round-trippers since the All-Star vacation.

We all know about Matt Olson's recent 11-game RBI streak. If you ask any Braves fan who they would guess has the most RBI since the break, I'm sure Matt Olson would be the easy answer. However, Riley is just one behind Olson with 28!

Riley has a sick slash line of .333/.381/.735 since the break. If you don't want to whip out the old calculator, that's a 1.116 OPS (7th-best in MLB).

His isolated power is .402, which is 3rd-best in MLB. He leads the Atlanta Braves in hard-hit percentage since the All-Star break with 51.3% of his batted balls registering in over 95 mph.

That hard-hit rate is good for the best in the entire National League. It's just a tenth of a percentage point behind MLB leader, MJ Melendez and his 51.4%. Riley is also a tenth of a point better than Ronald Acuna Jr.'s 51.2% hard-hit rate. That's fun.

Would you believe that Riley's infield-hit percentage is the best on the team since the break? He's a little better than Harris and Acuna. It's a small sample size, but it's still fun.

I hope you are having as much fun as I am.

No. 1 Best Atlanta Braves Bat Since All-Star Break

Matt Olson gets a rash from sliding into second. This is why he chooses to hit so many home runs.
Matt Olson gets a rash from sliding into second. This is why he chooses to hit so many home runs. / Winslow Townson/GettyImages

Mr. Matt Olson has been absolutely incredible in his second season with the Braves. He has stepped out of Freddie Freeman's shadow and now casts his own shade of equal proportion. Olson's incredible frenzy of offense has put his name in the MVP race next to Acuna and Freeman.

Matt Olson recently became the fastest Braves' player to reach 40 homers in a season. The last article I wrote discussed his record and whether or not the pace he's on is sustainable. The guy is in the midst of a stretch in which his at-bat/homer ratio is akin to Barry Bond's record-setting pace. If you took Olson's numbers since June 15, he would break the single-season home run record.

However, I'm not worried about Olson slowing down until he does... or doesn't. If Olson didn't hit another homer or have another RBI for the rest of the season, he'd still have one of the great power seasons in the Braves history. He has 40 homers and 101 RBI as of August 11th.

Since the All-Star break, Olson has set the baseball world on fire. His 18.0% walk rate is fifth in MLB. His 1.169 OPS is the best on the team and third in all of baseball. His .409 isolated power is second in the big leagues and first in the National League.

Since the break, Olson has 14 singles and 14 extra-base hits with 11 going for homers. If you read the previous page, Olson and Riley lead the league in home runs since the break with 11 each.

Since the All-Star break Olson leads the National League in intentional walks with five.

Olson leads the Braves in walks with 20 and is fourth in all of baseball.

Olson is tied with Cody Bellinger for the league-lead in RBI since the All-Star ceremonies.

His 195 wRC+ leads the way for the Braves amazing offense since the break. As I started the article, Olson has cemented himself as one of the biggest stars in all of baseball, and certainly one of the premier power bats in the game. Olson and Ohtani currently share the league lead in homers with 40 each.

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