Where are the home runs?
The Braves have the best record in baseball, and they are doing it without much help from the long ball.
Entering play Tuesday, the Braves (19-8) have a total of 29 home runs. That ranks 17th in all of MLB. The Orioles lead the majors with 45 home runs. The Phillies are best in the National League with 37, tied for second overall.
As a comparison, the Braves had 41 home runs through April last season.
Back to the current edition of the Braves, Marcell Ozuna leads the team with nine home runs. Travis d’Arnaud is second with five, all of those coming in three games of a four-game stretch earlier this month.
The power hitters of Matt Olson (3), Austin Riley (2) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (1) have a combined six homers.
In Monday night’s 2-1 loss at the Mariners, the Braves failed to homer for the ninth time this season. That’s 30% of their games. Last year, they failed to homer in only 18 games. That’s 11% of their games.
Here is a big difference. The Braves are 5-4 in those homer-less games. They already have as many wins as they did in the 18 such games last season.
