AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > June > 12
Monday, June 12, 2006
Ugly, ugly stats
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If the Nationals beat Colorado today, the Braves would be in fourth place, a half-game behind the Nationals (not to mention 10 behind the Mets, which we’ve already mentioned a couple times elsewhere).
Fourth place, a half-game behind the Nationals. That, my friends, says it all about the Braves’ current state of despair and disrepair.
Actually, it doesn’t say it all. Let’s say some other stuff. Just a few nuggets for those in Braves Nation to sprinkle over the wretched stew of the past two weeks:
*The Braves are 3-11 with a 6.29 ERA since May 29, and have a league-worst 2-9 record in June. They’ve scored four runs or fewer in 10 of their past 14 games, and allowed seven runs or more in half of those 14 games, including games with 12, 13 and yesterday’s season-high 14 runs allowed.
*The Nationals are 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA since May 29, the Marlins are 8-4 with a 3.17 ERA since May 29.
*The Mets? They’re 8-3 with a 2.86 ERA in their past 11 games and 5-0 with a 2.80 ERA and .325 team batting average and 46 runs in their past five games, all on the road.
*The Braves have allowed 20 home runs in June; no other NL team has allowed more than 17.
*The formerly pitching-rich Braves have fallen to 15th in the NL with a 4.78 ERA, and have only 389 strikeouts with 214 walks.
*The starters are 10th with a 4.61 ERA and have the second-fewest wins (17) while being tied for the most losses (27) in the NL.
*The bullpen is officially horrendous, with a league-high 12 blown saves (in 27 chances) ande 5.12 ERA that ranks 15th in the NL. They have the third-fewest strikeouts (128) and are tied for the second-most walks (99).
*The bullpen has allowed .366 opponents’ on-base percentage that’s 13 points higher than any other NL bullpen.
*Braves second basemen have the NL’s worst batting average (.237) and second-worst OBP (.326).
*Braves first basemen have the NL’s worst batting average (.243) and rank 11th in RBIs (36).
*Braves outfielders rank 15th in the NL in on-base percentage (.313), ahead of only the rookie-littered Marlins (.309).
*Braves hitters have more strikeouts (485) than every NL team except Milwaukee (486) and Florida (495), while they’re tied for 10th with 208 walks.
*Four Braves have at least 50 strikeouts, and leadoff man Marcus Giles has 46 K with a .235 average and .328 OBP.
*Ryan Langerhans has hit .212 with two homers, six RBIs, 32 K and a .311 OBP in 107 at-bats in his past 37 games.
*Giles has hit .224 with a .313 OBP in his past 22 games, and .115 (3-for-26) with one run and one RBI in his past six games.
*Chris Reitsma has a majors-worst 9.11 ERA, an NL-worst .364 opponents’ average, and an NL-worst .411 opponents’ average with runners on base. He’s allowed 18.2 baserunners per nine innings pitched; no other qualifying NL reliever has allowed as many as 16 per nine innings pitched.
*San Francisco’s Tim Worrell (8) is the only NL reliever who has allowed more homers than Reitsma and Oscar Villarreal, who’ve allowed seven apiece.
*Villarreal has an 8.79 ERA and .350 opponents’ average in his past 11 appearances.
*Macay McBride has allowed two runs, three hits and six walks with one strikeout in three innings in his past three games.
*Reitsma has allowed 12 hits and 11 runs in 2-2/3 innings (37.13 ERA) in his past three games, has a 15.43 ERA and .440 opponents’ average in his past 11 appearances, and a 7.91 ERA and .359 opponents’ average in 50 appearances since Aug. 7.
*Among qualifying starters, Jorge Sosa has a league-worst .380 average allowed with runners in scorig position, and John Thomson has the fifth-worst overall opponents’ BA (.300).
*Reitsma is the only NL pitcher with a higher opponents’ average with men on base than Sosa (.402).
*The Cubs’ Greg Maddux (82.4) is the only NL pitcher with fewer pitches per start than Thomson (85.2).
A few bright notes:
*All-Star candidates Brian McCann and Edgar Renteria are batting .354 and .327, respectably. Renteria has hit .367 (22-for-60) with five homers and 10 RBIs in his past 15 games, and McCann has a .405 OBP and .546 slugging percentage and hasn’t missed a beat since returning from the DL.
*Wilson Betemit has hit .372 (16-for-43) with three homers since May 2, Kenny Ray has a 2.12 ERA and .194 opponents average in 30 appearances, and Mike Remlinger has a 1.69 ERA and .205 opponents’ average in his past 15 appearances.
Didn’t want anyone to think I was a pessimist or anything.
