Braves Statcast standouts – Hitting (everyone else)
I could probably have a 3000-word article just on Ronald Acuña Jr, but there's plenty more to talk about when it comes to hitters.
Matt Olson's 118.6 MPH bomb
On April 11, Matt Olson unleashed on this 118.6 MPH homer. At the time, it easily took the cake for the hardest-hit ball of the year and would stay that way until Ronald Acuña Jr. decided it was time to unleash a 121.2 MPH homer.
On the season, this Olson bomb was tied for the third-hardest hit ball the entire season.
474-foot d'Addy bomb
On April 3, Austin Riley hit this 473-foot blast against the Cardinals. For months, it was the furthest-hit homer by a Braves player. It was the ninth-furthest hit baseball in MLB this season.
At 113.3 MPH off the bat, this had some serious heat on it.
But this didn't end up as the longest homer by a Brave this season. Despite having mashers like Ronald Acuña Jr, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Marcell Ozuna on the team, the longest homer by a Brave belongs to a player who only hit 11 long balls all season.
That of course is none other than Travis d'Arnaud.
In the middle of the Braves' four-game series against the Rockies in which the Bravos outscored the Rockies 40-12, d'Arnaud went off against Dinelson Lamet, with this 474-foot homer being just the first of two bombs against the righty.
46% hard-hit rate
As a team, the Braves had a 46% hard-hit rate. No other team came within four percentage points.
The second-place Yankees finished with a 41.8% hard-hit rate and the gap between them and the Braves was greater than the gap between the Yankees and the White Sox, who had the 25th-best hard-hit rate.
The Braves parlayed their hard-hit rate into the highest xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, and xwOBACON, all by large gaps as well.
Matt Olson will destroy your fastball
When you lead the majors in homers and break the franchise home run record for one of the oldest franchises in baseball, you're doing a lot of damage on plenty of pitches.
But Matt Olson was especially exceptional against the fastball. According to Baseball Savant, his 23 Run Value off of the heater was the best by a hitter against any pitch.