The Atlanta Braves are one of the best teams in baseball.
Their 14-4 record as of Wednesday afternoon is the best in the National League and the second-best in baseball behind the impressive Tampa Bay Rays.
With 97 runs scored, they are also the most prolific offense in the National League.
Yet, despite all those facts and numbers, there is something they could improve that may make them completely unstoppable: hitting with the bases loaded.
“Weird thing: For as dangerous as this Braves offense has been, it entered today batting .150 — fifth worst in MLB — with the bases loaded. The Braves loaded them with one out in the third, and came up empty,” MLB insider Justin Toscano tweeted.
Weird thing: For as dangerous as this Braves offense has been, it entered today batting .150 — fifth worst in MLB — with the bases loaded. The Braves loaded them with one out in the third, and came up empty.
—Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) April 19, 2023
Situational hitting is very hard to predict and hardly has any predictive value.
Yet it’s impossible not to think about how many more runs the Braves could have scored if they produced even a little bit more with the bases loaded.
Again, their offense has been mostly fine: Ronald Acuna Jr. is performing admirably, and so is Matt Olson and other team stars.
For some reason, however, they haven’t been able to produce the big hit with the bases loaded.
It happens sometimes, particularly in large sample sizes.
For now, the Braves’ season has been going smoothly.
However, come the stretch run and the postseason, they may want to improve their focus, breathe, and put their best swings at the right pitches with people on base.
If they do that and manage to increase that .150 batting average, they might be hard to stop for any pitching staff.
NEXT:
Matt Olson Hit An Absolute Blast On Tuesday
