The Braves hit more home runs than any team in the National League in their first 85 games of the 2022 season, and several players contributed in the power department.
The Braves hit four home runs in Friday’s 12-2 victory over the Washington Nationals, winning their 50th game of the season and extending their National League-best total to 131 homers. Four players each went deep in the victory, the latest example of the team spreading its wealth when it comes to the long ball.
“It’s kind of what we do,” manager Brian Snitker said after the win. “It’s how we are built: We hit homers and strike out.”
Seven players have at least 10 homers this season, led by Austin Riley with 21. Marcell Ozuna, who had only seven home runs in 48 games in 2021, has 17 this season, and Dansby Swanson has 14 homers in 81 games - on pace to possibly match or surpass his career-high 27 homers hit in 2021.
Matt Olson and William Contreras homered in the win, Olson’s 13th and Contreras’ 11. Travis d’Arnaud also has 11 homers and Adam Duvall has 10.
The already deep lineup is getting deeper with the return of Ronald Acuna and the emergence of Michael Harris. Acuna’s 446-foot blast against the Nationals was his eighth in only 51 games this season while the 21-year-old Harris, called up to the majors May 28, has hit seven homers in 39 games.
With nine games left until the All-Star break, the Braves are proving how legit this year’s offense can be going into the second half of the season.
The Braves are showing up more in the home run department compared with last season, thanks in part to last month’s success. In June, the Braves hit 54 home runs, 21 more than they did in June last year. Before the 2021 All-Star break, the Braves had only five players with double-digit home runs and had 123 home runs as a team. Already in the second week of July, the Braves have hit 15 homers this month.
Within MLB, the Braves total of 131 ranks behind the New York Yankees’ 143 home runs, which includes five players with double-digit home runs. The next closest team to the Braves is the Houston Astros, with 123 home runs and counting.
As far as the NL East, the Braves stand well above the rest of their division foes. The Phillies have 111, the Marlins have 89, the Mets have 83 and the Nationals have 65.
Right now, the Braves stand 2.5 games behind the first-place Mets and will meet them next week at Truist Park. If the Braves can continue their pre-All-Star home run explosiveness, the team has a shot at taking first place.
“I know it’s a good recipe in the postseason because it’s getting harder and harder to bunch hits with the arms you face and the velocities and what these guys are bringing every day,” Snitker said. “It’s kind of been what we have. I mean that’s how we are built, and so as long as it doesn’t stop, I’m all in.
