The bats are heating up for the Atlanta Braves as the month of June has progressed. Along with the offense and weather heating up, things are getting a bit spicy between the Braves and the Yankees. The two teams traded slugfest victories in the first two ballgames, but the series finale has been a pitching duel between Max Fried and Nestor Cortes.
Perhaps that is what spurred one long-time broadcaster to make some eyebrow raising comments during today's broadcast. Although, the Braves have started to get the bats rolling recently, Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay just described the offense as "mid."
Michael Kay says the Braves offense is mid pic.twitter.com/WazcAgNSG6
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 23, 2024
Michael Kay has lazy take on the Braves offense
While we acknowledge the Braves haven't been able to repeat the historic production from last season, calling the offense mediocre is a very lazy take. Yes, the team statistics he provided signal the Braves to be a middle of the pack offense. However, a simple deep dive into the advanced metrics showcase Atlanta's elite ability to hit the baseball hard.
Yes, leading the league in average exit velocity (90.4 mph) doesn't directly translate to production, but those numbers seem to be evening out over the past couple weeks for Atlanta. They were able to clinch a series victory today thanks to Jarred Kelenic's nice day at the plate. What does losing a series to a "mid" offense say about the Yankees?
Jarred Kelenic clocking in! 💣#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/Prl025FQRX
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 23, 2024
Michael Kay has been broadcasting for the Yankees for over three decades now, so he's entitled to his opinion. However, the Braves offense is trending in the right direction and the Yankees offense has cooled off. In fact since June 6th, the Braves are sixth in team wRC+ (133) and the Yankees are 19th (98) in baseball. Maybe this is a classic case of projection?
We can speculate and dispute Michael Kay all we want, but at the end of the day we know the offense hasn't quite lived up to the potential we know they have. Thankfully, things are trending up for the Braves offense, and hopefully comments like Kay's add just a little more fuel to the fire for these hot Braves hitters.