Braves Statcast standouts – Pitching
While the bulk of the Braves' impressiveness in 2023 came on the backs of their hitting, their pitching still had their moments.
The Brave with a top-5 run value isn't who you'd expect
The Braves have two aces in Max Fried and Spencer Strider, but the pitcher on the Braves with the best individual pitch is Charlie Morton.
In fact, his curveball, which had a 25 Run Value, was the fifth-best pitch in major league baseball. Only Gerrit Cole, Logan Webb, Zac Gallen, and Chris Bassitt had pitches with a higher Run Value.
Against the curve, batters only hit .177 and slugged .258. Morton had a 42% whiff rate on the pitch and a 37.1% strikeout rate.
Spencer Strider was dominant
It's not going to be shocking to many people, but Spencer Strider was incredibly dominant by Baseball Savant's metrics. He was in the 80th percentile or better in overall Pitching Run Value, Breaking Run Value, xERA, xBA, Fastball Velo, Chase%, Whiff%, K%, and extension.
Number 99 had the best strikeout rate among starters and had the third-best K% of any pitcher this season.
Not bad for a starter in his second full season.
Max Fried was outstanding
With the injuries, it might be easy to forget just how good Max Fried was in 2023. The lefty had the second-best xwOBA of any starter this year and was in the 80th percentile or better in overall Pitching Run Value, Breaking Run Value, Offspeed Run Value, xERA, xBA, Avg Exit Velocity, BB%, Barrel%, Hard-Hit%, and GB%.
When the lefty took the mound this season, he was nearly unstoppable. Please extend him, Alex Anthopoulos.