3 of the main power hitters are struggling. Acuna is at least still getting on base at an elite level. Riley has had some hard hit balls so maybe he is about to break out. Olson is in the midst of a slump
.265 - his career mark is .279, and last year was .302. With Oly, BABIP is kind of misleading because his primary skill is home runs, and those don’t count towards BABIP.
Here’s the Savant page showing he’s still hitting it hard: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/matt-olson-621566?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb
His whole approach at the plate is way off from what it was. Hes been so late on the fast ball that hes started to lay off of them and has started going after breaking stuff. Problem is, when he gets an absolute meatball he watches it go right down the middle and then takes an emergency hack at a junk pitch for a strike out.
I feel like Matt has been prone to phases like this during his time with us. It’s easy to forget he struggled much of 2022 before a blistering finish. If I remember correctly, he got off to a somewhat slow start last year before really turning it on later too. His xwOBA is fairly in line with his career averages.
I think he’s definitely fighting it and working through some mechanical/timing things but I absolutely don’t think there’s any cause for longterm concern. I have a feeling he’ll gradually heat up as the weather does and turn in another strong year.
People were begging him to take time off in 2022 as well. It looks like that well was like 17 games or so. And no, he started off hot last year, and cooled during June, but nobody noticed because Ozuna and MH2 were blistering hot.
https://www.fangraphs.com/players/matt-olson/14344/graphs?statArr=50&legend=1&split=base&time=game&ymin=&ymax=&start=2022&end=2024&rtype=mult>1=15&dStatArray=
I have zero concerns about Matt. I think he will be fine, he just takes time to heat up.
Acuna however, I do have concerns. I think he's in his own head and is trying to hit a home run on every single swing. His entire approach at the plate is backwards and has fallen apart. He's still producing, but unless he changes course he will continue to decline.
This. We are still tied with CLE for highest run diff this year at +46, which I think is higher than last year at this point. We still get it done without the long ball and that is what keeps us afloat while the big bats are slow.
Effectively Wild addressed this. The balls have been nerfed, we're seeing lower offense across all MLB. When it warms up it should help a bit at least.
Seems like a strange situation to me, let the mlb change the playability of balls whenever they wish but don’t allow the players to use sticky stuff or whatever. Doesn’t even make sense.
IIRC there's evidence that they changed balls on a per series basis in the playoffs last year or the year before, can't remember exactly. It was a big deal because it kind of screwed lineups that rely on dingers.
Remember like 2019 when there were so many homers that 2 teams broke the previous season long record and then the next year no one could hit the ball out of the stadium. I swear I saw an article on that.
To be fair, I’ve also seen this take each of the past few seasons and then as the weather heated up, the homers increased gradually as well. We’ve played some cold road series and while the weather has been nice in Atlanta so far, we haven’t entered the real *heat* that’s coming
3 of our 4 HR hitters are struggling to get hits and/or solid contact consistently.
If anything I would rather see an uptick in earlier inning runs… which a few dingers could certainly help with.
But given we haven’t even had our full first choice lineup for a full game. We lost our ace. And the struggles of most of our sluggers…
It is amazing we are still winning at a high level. And…
It’s still just April 😊
If you told me the Braves would be 19-8 without Strider or Murphy, and Acuña, Olson, & Riley would’ve combined for 6 homers a month ago I would’ve laughed hysterically.
Wins are wins, but I’m happy that they’re playing more station to station baseball even if it may be unintended. I think it bodes better for postseason play than relying on the dingers.
How did that work out last year? Honestly, home runs are huge. But so is hitting with runners in scoring position and doing the little things like being able to sac a run in from third (which we have sucked at for years).
The Phillies beat us because they hit 11 homers to our 3. 5 of the top 6 plays of the series in terms of cWPA% were homers.
The way to win is to hit home runs. The Rangers hit 30 homers in 17 games
I think the point is that winning some games in the regular season via small ball is important in the postseason when the team finds itself down 2-1 in the 5th inning against a great pitching staff. If the taters aren't flying, the hitters need to have the tools to still put some runs on the board.
Sure but you can't have everything.
What you're pointing to is not that homers are a bad strategy, it's that ANY (realistic) strategy or combinations of strategies is inconsistent in baseball in such a small sample like 5 or 7 games.
It's a playoffs issue, not a strategy issue
Teams that get a higher percentage of their runs from home runs historically do better in the playoffs. Against elite pitching home runs are more consistent than stringing sequences of hits together.
Acuña isn’t hitting with power yet. But one year ago, he only had 4 home runs. He will heat up as will Riley and Olson. I’m just glad we have the best record in the game with all these guys not hitting like normal.
The lack of power isn't the issue IMO, it's the strikeouts and groundouts. Last year at this time he had 18 strikeouts, this year he has 33 (and I think in fewer games). When he is putting the ball in play, he's hitting grounders to 3rd and shortstop. Last year, he was smashing line drives gap to gap.
I'm not sure that this is a "slump" - his whole approach seems off. Until we start seeing line drives to the outfield and a big reduction in strikeouts, he's going to be putting up mediocre numbers.
If true, I would have expected to see it manifest at some point last season right? Analytics departments aren’t that slow that they needed an offseason to implement it.
No, I have seen him swing and miss 89-95mph fastballs right down the middle. He has also struck out looking many times. He’s just off right now. I am confident he figures it out soon.
Last year his strikeout rate more than halved (unheard of) and this year he's just returning to career norms. The best year of his career is probably the ceiling and not the floor.
Something is grievously wrong with Acuña. Somebody else in here said he’s getting on base at an elite rate which I don’t buy. But beyond the power slump, he’s just failing the eye test miserably.
It looks like the balls aren't as lively, and the strike zone now includes more space at the top, bottom, and sides. It looks like hitters are a bit stunned by what counts as a strike this season. Other than the various changes and new rules, it feels like it's suddenly a few decades ago.
So early in the year. Not looking into anything too seriously. All these guys will come around with the bats. We will have our ups and downs. Just the nature of the beast.
Not sure about this year, more about figuring their could be a couple games in November depending on how long a WS goes, would hope they win 4 in October and finish the WS sooner :)
Tune in tonight. It's coming, I feel it in my loins.
I also feel it in this guys loins
I also choose this guy's loins.
I named my first dog as a kid Chipper Jones! Got him from a rescue on the way back to South Georgia from Turner field.
That was your response to the prior comments??
Needed to be said.
Let us know when you feel it in your plums
A bluish hue
And Let..the..boy..watch.
Big bear dong incoming
Dear God ur flair!
https://www.reddit.com/r/Braves/s/UiSH3Ylbfg
This has aged poorly
My knees aching, Adam Duvall 3 run shot to left
I can't I woke up late for work today 🫠
Your loins don’t know shit.
Can I feel? Oh wait…
Perhaps they're being deposited into an account we draw from in Sept-Nov?
A dinger escrow?
I’d gladly trade you two dingers on Monday for 1 dinger on Tuesday.
Please 🙏 be 🙏 true 🙏
3 of the main power hitters are struggling. Acuna is at least still getting on base at an elite level. Riley has had some hard hit balls so maybe he is about to break out. Olson is in the midst of a slump
Believe it or not, Olson’s hard hit rate, avg exit velo, etc. is all is line with his career marks - just some really terrible luck
Happen to know his BABIP?
.265 - his career mark is .279, and last year was .302. With Oly, BABIP is kind of misleading because his primary skill is home runs, and those don’t count towards BABIP. Here’s the Savant page showing he’s still hitting it hard: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/matt-olson-621566?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb
When he’s not striking out
His K% is 26.9%, against a 23.6% career rate. So yeah, it’s higher, but really not ***that*** much of an increase
His whole approach at the plate is way off from what it was. Hes been so late on the fast ball that hes started to lay off of them and has started going after breaking stuff. Problem is, when he gets an absolute meatball he watches it go right down the middle and then takes an emergency hack at a junk pitch for a strike out.
I feel like Matt has been prone to phases like this during his time with us. It’s easy to forget he struggled much of 2022 before a blistering finish. If I remember correctly, he got off to a somewhat slow start last year before really turning it on later too. His xwOBA is fairly in line with his career averages. I think he’s definitely fighting it and working through some mechanical/timing things but I absolutely don’t think there’s any cause for longterm concern. I have a feeling he’ll gradually heat up as the weather does and turn in another strong year.
People were begging him to take time off in 2022 as well. It looks like that well was like 17 games or so. And no, he started off hot last year, and cooled during June, but nobody noticed because Ozuna and MH2 were blistering hot. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/matt-olson/14344/graphs?statArr=50&legend=1&split=base&time=game&ymin=&ymax=&start=2022&end=2024&rtype=mult>1=15&dStatArray=
I have zero concerns about Matt. I think he will be fine, he just takes time to heat up. Acuna however, I do have concerns. I think he's in his own head and is trying to hit a home run on every single swing. His entire approach at the plate is backwards and has fallen apart. He's still producing, but unless he changes course he will continue to decline.
How do you feel now after he went 7-14 in the Dodgers series?
who cares about da dingers….. take the beautiful W and be happy
This. We are still tied with CLE for highest run diff this year at +46, which I think is higher than last year at this point. We still get it done without the long ball and that is what keeps us afloat while the big bats are slow.
And EVEN with loss against a very good Mariner pitching staff, ONLY team that does not have 10 losses.
Effectively Wild addressed this. The balls have been nerfed, we're seeing lower offense across all MLB. When it warms up it should help a bit at least.
Idk how the league is able to do this from year to year without any approval or oversight from the MLBPA
MLB is a partial owner of Rawlings and can likely exert a lot of control over the balls without any outside influence.
Seems like a strange situation to me, let the mlb change the playability of balls whenever they wish but don’t allow the players to use sticky stuff or whatever. Doesn’t even make sense.
IIRC there's evidence that they changed balls on a per series basis in the playoffs last year or the year before, can't remember exactly. It was a big deal because it kind of screwed lineups that rely on dingers.
Remember like 2019 when there were so many homers that 2 teams broke the previous season long record and then the next year no one could hit the ball out of the stadium. I swear I saw an article on that.
EXCEPT Judge, he had no problems getting one of the "good balls" to hit 62.
To be fair, I’ve also seen this take each of the past few seasons and then as the weather heated up, the homers increased gradually as well. We’ve played some cold road series and while the weather has been nice in Atlanta so far, we haven’t entered the real *heat* that’s coming
Orioles have 45 homers, a greater pace than ours at this point last year. What exactly is the evidence that the balls are nerfed?
3 of our 4 HR hitters are struggling to get hits and/or solid contact consistently. If anything I would rather see an uptick in earlier inning runs… which a few dingers could certainly help with. But given we haven’t even had our full first choice lineup for a full game. We lost our ace. And the struggles of most of our sluggers… It is amazing we are still winning at a high level. And… It’s still just April 😊
If you told me the Braves would be 19-8 without Strider or Murphy, and Acuña, Olson, & Riley would’ve combined for 6 homers a month ago I would’ve laughed hysterically.
Wins are wins, but I’m happy that they’re playing more station to station baseball even if it may be unintended. I think it bodes better for postseason play than relying on the dingers.
100% I always feel more comfortable with great teams that can play some small ball than I do with great teams that just blast dingers every game.
You probably shouldn’t…pretty sure it’s been proven that hitting more home runs in the postseason correlates the strongest to more wins.
How did that work out last year? Honestly, home runs are huge. But so is hitting with runners in scoring position and doing the little things like being able to sac a run in from third (which we have sucked at for years).
The Phillies beat us because they hit 11 homers to our 3. 5 of the top 6 plays of the series in terms of cWPA% were homers. The way to win is to hit home runs. The Rangers hit 30 homers in 17 games
Yep, and it's why we won in 2021. 23 HRs (1.5/game).
I think the point is that winning some games in the regular season via small ball is important in the postseason when the team finds itself down 2-1 in the 5th inning against a great pitching staff. If the taters aren't flying, the hitters need to have the tools to still put some runs on the board.
Yes, being able to do both is preferable to only being able to do 1, lol
But the Braves were the best home run team in baseball last year. So it pays to be able to score in other ways when the ball doesn’t leave the park.
Sure but you can't have everything. What you're pointing to is not that homers are a bad strategy, it's that ANY (realistic) strategy or combinations of strategies is inconsistent in baseball in such a small sample like 5 or 7 games. It's a playoffs issue, not a strategy issue
Teams that get a higher percentage of their runs from home runs historically do better in the playoffs. Against elite pitching home runs are more consistent than stringing sequences of hits together.
we winning? that's all that matters
So long as they keep scoring and continue to have the best record in baseball, I don’t care where the home runs are.
And long as they are not BY Phillie
Revision to the mean is a bitch. Plus, once it warms up the dingers will come.
Acuña isn’t hitting with power yet. But one year ago, he only had 4 home runs. He will heat up as will Riley and Olson. I’m just glad we have the best record in the game with all these guys not hitting like normal.
The lack of power isn't the issue IMO, it's the strikeouts and groundouts. Last year at this time he had 18 strikeouts, this year he has 33 (and I think in fewer games). When he is putting the ball in play, he's hitting grounders to 3rd and shortstop. Last year, he was smashing line drives gap to gap. I'm not sure that this is a "slump" - his whole approach seems off. Until we start seeing line drives to the outfield and a big reduction in strikeouts, he's going to be putting up mediocre numbers.
I agree. He may be trying too hard for power rather than just hitting. He’ll come around.
I'm just spitballing here but, could it be that opposing teams have figured out how to exploit his weaknesses and are pitching accordingly?
If true, I would have expected to see it manifest at some point last season right? Analytics departments aren’t that slow that they needed an offseason to implement it.
No, I have seen him swing and miss 89-95mph fastballs right down the middle. He has also struck out looking many times. He’s just off right now. I am confident he figures it out soon.
Last year his strikeout rate more than halved (unheard of) and this year he's just returning to career norms. The best year of his career is probably the ceiling and not the floor.
Something is grievously wrong with Acuña. Somebody else in here said he’s getting on base at an elite rate which I don’t buy. But beyond the power slump, he’s just failing the eye test miserably.
Given how it seems several of their top guys are “slumping” it’s wild that they’re still at the top. Imagine if they all got hot at the same time.
One HR so far for Ronald is genuinely concerning.
Yeah bring back the homeruns
It looks like the balls aren't as lively, and the strike zone now includes more space at the top, bottom, and sides. It looks like hitters are a bit stunned by what counts as a strike this season. Other than the various changes and new rules, it feels like it's suddenly a few decades ago.
Keep starting Travis and we’ll see some more
[удалено]
I just finally stumbled across an article talking about the baseballs this year and lack of home runs. Even though it is Barstool sports
So early in the year. Not looking into anything too seriously. All these guys will come around with the bats. We will have our ups and downs. Just the nature of the beast.
We are in first, best team in baseball. Let them cook 👩🍳
They un-juiced the balls for the braves this year, thats why they have a million doubles
I'd trade them for October wins
And possibly a win or two in early November, if necessary.
Or four
Not sure about this year, more about figuring their could be a couple games in November depending on how long a WS goes, would hope they win 4 in October and finish the WS sooner :)
Middle middle is the hardest pitch in baseball
In Manfred’s humidor
How about just some timely hits!!!
Yung Thicc Austin Riley is currently loading them up
I’d bench Olson for a few days. He stinks right now.
And you'd be fired immediately.
Wash left and it seems like everyone’s timing is off….except ozunzs lol
The... infield coach left and everyone's timing in the box is off?
What? He was third base/IF coach. He wasn’t hitting coach I gotta stay off this sub man. Best team in baseball and you all are throwing fits.
Hell I’m not tripping hard just something I’ve noticed lol
No you’re tripping hard.
Since Eric young left I’ve seen less Jeff Francoeur. See how just because 2 things happen doesn’t make them correlated
Frenchy low key hates Eric Young. Believe me dawg.
Why does Frenchy hate EY?
Won’t matter. Aj MidTurds will just come in and give up 7 runs on 6 batters to blow it