The Atlanta Braves are 7-5 just13 days into the month of May, but their offense deserves absolutely none of the credit for their mediocrity. If it wasn't for the pitching, frankly, the team's record in May could be looking at a similar record as the Marlins, Rockies, and Pirates.
In the last 11 games, and before a decent showing finally against the Nationals on Tuesday, Atlanta's offense completely disappeared, and when comparing it to the rest of the league this month, it's been just even worse than you may have thought.
Braves offense has been worse than some historically bad teams this month
Since the month began the Braves have scored a total of 34 runs, averaging just over three runs a game. The distribution of runs have been incredibly even, which is a two-edged sword.
On one hand, it means the braves aren't getting shutout in multiple games, with one big game accounting for all of the runs. On the other, it means that there have been 11 games where the Braves haven't scored more than five runs once. In fact, during this five game stretch, they've only scored five runs in a game once.
The 34 runs the Braves have scored coming into Tuesday's game was the sixth-fewest runs in baseball in May. The Braves have been worse at scoring runs than the White Sox and the Rockies, one team who set an MLB record in losses last year and one team who is very much on their way to break that record.
The Braves have a team have slashed .218/.285/.339 as a team with just eight homers. Six of the team's 10 regulars have wRC+s under 74. Ozzie Albies has struggled the most out of the starting lineup, has a 0 wRC+ coming into Tuesday with a .119/.174/.190 slashline.
Albies, along with Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Nick Allen and Alex Verdugo all have batting averages .200 or lower. Not surprisingly, Olson is the only one of the five with an above-average wRC+ thanks to his power and OBP skills.
Essentially, outside of the two, three, four spots, with some help from Drake Baldwin, the Braves offense has been a complete black hole. It's only been thanks to miraculous pitching, whose 2.81 ERA has been the third-best in the majors this month that the Braves have been able to win games.
As the Braves continue to battle with the .500 line, they won't be able to blow past this threshold until they can score more than four runs a game. If anything, the offense struggles are impending disaster if the pitching staff falters even an ounce.