The Atlanta Braves are historically good in the first inning

The Atlanta Braves are unstoppable in the first inning. Coming into Friday's game against the Marlins, the Braves led MLB with .998 OPS as a team. They've scored 76 runs and hit 25 homers in the first inning alone. So, naturally, the team hit two more first-inning bombs and scored five more runs.

The Braves are bulldozing teams before the opponent even gets a chance to get in the game (except you, Reds, you earned my respect after that series). It's also not just their hitting. The Braves pitching has been exceptional at keeping runs off the board.

But just how good are the Braves in the first inning? Is it historically good?

How good are the Braves in the first inning in 2023?

After Friday's game, the Braves had scored 81 first-inning runs, which is more than the Mets, Marlins, and Tigers combined. They've hit more homers than the Mets have scored runs, and Ronald Acuña Jr. alone has scored 27 runs, which is more than both the Mets and Marlins.

This year, only the Los Angeles Dodgers are even close to touching the Braves first inning success, and LA has only scored 66 runs in the first, 15 fewer than the Braves.

Atlanta has the most homers, with 27. Matt Olson has hit 10, while Austin Riley has hit eight. Coming into tonight, the Braves had 110 first-inning hits. The Rays had the second-most, with 101, but they had also played four more games.

No team is coming close to producing the damage the Braves are to start the game, and that's just talking about their hitting.

The Braves also don't allow runs in the first inning. They have a +56 run differential, which is 15 runs better than any team in baseball, in any inning (thank you, Sarah Langs). At the end of the first, there's a good chance the Braves are already in the driver's seat.

Atlanta's pitching was not the best first-inning staff coming into the game, and their 2.48 ERA was solidly second before tonight's game.

However, the team who had the best first-inning ERA was the Marlins, who the Braves torched for 5 runs. Their first inning ERA rose from 1.98 to 2.49, while the Braves dropped from 2.48 to 2.44.

This team is well above the rest of the league this year, but how do they stack up against other teams of years' past?