Disgusting Braves stat paints a murky picture of potential NL playoff chances
The Atlanta Braves entered the season with some of the highest expectations in the entire league, minus potentially the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was between them, the Yankees and the Dodgers for which team had the highest expectations going into the year, but the Braves have fallen short of these expectations over and over again.
It's hard to say Atlanta is having a disappointing season because they're still firmly in control of a playoff spot, but it's almost to the point where they're fighting to survive, not thrive.
A lot of this has to do with injuries, mainly to their top two players Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr., but injuries didn't stop them from winning the 2021 World Series. Why's this year so different?
Well, Atlanta's offense has been bad. Not just a little off, but bottom of the league kind of bad. I'm not joking.
Shocking stat places the Braves offense at the bottom of the league since April 24
In terms of total runs scored, the Braves are in dead last in the MLB since April 24. That's not a typo. They're behind the White Sox and Athletics, as well as the other 27 teams in the league.
Since April 24, no MLB team has scored fewer runs than the Atlanta Braves.
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 11, 2024
231 NYY
228 PHI
217 KC
209 MIL
207 MIN
206 BAL
203 LAD
202 HOU
197 CLE
192 BOS
191 SD
182 SF
179 WSH
178 DET
177 SEA
176 COL
175 OAK NYM
172 STL
171 TEX
168 CIN
167 PIT
165 TOR
162 LAA
159 TB
158 CHC ARI…
It only adds insult to injury when you find their division rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, sitting in second place with 228 runs. Atlanta sits in dead last, having scored just 146 runs in a month and a half.
They've gone from a historic offense to one of the worst in the league in the matter of a year. It's impossible to put this kind of fall off on just the injury to Acuña too.
Yeah, there will be some drop off when he's lost. He was incredible last season en route to winning the NL MVP, but he isn't responsible for this kind of historic cold streak.
Whatever the problem may be, Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos has his hands full going into the trade deadline. Anthopoulos is famous for being able to pull off some pretty lopsided trades, putting the Braves in good position to compete.
2024 will be Anthopoulos' toughest test yet. If he can manage to get the right players on the field, the Braves always have a chance. Especially when you factor in how well their starting pitching has thrown this year.
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