A word of warning: These things are not created equal. The Atlanta Braves have played 16 road games; they’ve played eight times at SunTrust Park. Still, numbers are numbers, and today we have a bit of fun with numbers. So far, who likes STP? Who doesn’t?
Who does: Ender Inciarte. He has three home runs – as many as he had anywhere last season – in eight Cobb County dates. He has two on the road. His OPS at STP is .995; his OPS elsewhere is .593.
Who doesn't: Julio Teheran. He's 1-2 at STP with an ERA of 8.44; he's 1-0 with an ERA of 0.93 on the road. This bears watching, seeing as how Teheran was always better at Turner Field (24-16 with a 3.02 ERA) than away from it.
Who does: The Mets. They're 1-0 at STP; they were 67-106 at Turner Field, not counting three egregious losses in the 1999 NLCS, which ended in the 11th inning of Game 6 on Kenny Rogers' bases-loaded walk of Andruw Jones. The New York tabloids had a name for Turner Field -- House of Horrors.
Who doesn't: The Braves, at least lately. They won their first four games in their new yard. (This could have had something to do with the visiting team, which was San Diego.) They haven't won since. They were swept by the Nationals and beaten by the Mets, who have mostly been awful this season, on Monday. The Braves trailed after one batter. They trailed 6-1 after 3 ½ innings. They've been outscored 27-12 over the past four games at STP.
Who does: Leadoff hitters. Michael Conforto led off the game with a home run off Teheran. Inciarte led off the bottom of the inning with a home run off Robert Gsellman. Speaking of whom: Matthew Kaminski, the Braves' arch organist, greeted Gsellman with "The Brady Bunch" theme when the pitcher came to bat. Why? Because a famous woman named Gisele is married to a famous man named Brady. This not just in: Matthew Kaminski is a hoot.
Who doesn't: Billy Joel fans. See AJC colleague Melissa Ruggieri's review of Friday's show and the Braves' response to concert-goers' many gripes.
Who really doesn't: The Face of the Franchise. Awful on the road, the guy who grew up in Cobb County has been even worse in Cobb County. Dansby Swanson's road OPS is .535; his OPS at STP is .175. (His overall OPS is .428, which is second-worst among qualifying hitters. The MLB average is .723, FYI.) He's 2-for-28 -- one of the hits was a game-winner, we note -- in the new place.
Who doesn't much care: Freddie Freeman. He has six homers on the road, three at home. (Given that the Braves have played twice as many road games, that's the essence of consistency.) His road OPS is 1.123, which would have led the majors last season. His home OPS is 1.667, which would, over a full season both home and away, be the best in baseball history.
(Thanks to the Braves' media relations folks for some of the above numbers.)
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