After the Braves went 1-for-42 at the plate in Sunday’s doubleheader, their team batting average dropped to a paltry .215 through the first 21 games of the season.
Just to put that into perspective:
It’s well below the lowest team batting average the Braves have had for a full season since moving to Atlanta (.234 in 1989).
It’s also below the lowest team batting average in the franchise’s pre-Atlanta history (.223 in 1909 when based in Boston).
And it’s below the career batting average of Rafael Belliard, the Braves’ light-hitting infielder of the 1990s (.221).
Sunday’s performance – one hit in seven scoreless innings against Arizona starter Zac Gallen in Game 1, no hits in seven scoreless innings against Madison Bumgarner in Game 2 – dropped the Braves’ team batting average from .228 to .215. And while it surely won’t stay so low all season, what with four 2020 Silver Sluggers in the lineup, that makes it no less ugly at the moment.
Currently, the Braves have four regulars hitting below .200: second baseman Ozzie Albies (.164), shortstop Dansby Swanson (.173), left fielder Marcell Ozuna (.184) and catcher Travis d’Arnaud (.190). First baseman Freddie Freeman is barely above .200 (.205).
Entering Sunday, MLB players were hitting a lowly .232 as a group this season. After Sunday, just five of the other 29 MLB clubs have a lower team batting average than the Braves: the Cubs (who will bring a .213 average to Truist Park for the start of a four-game series Monday), Brewers (.209), Indians (.206), Yankees (.206) and Tigers (.205).
It could be worse: Take away Ronald Acuna’s .371, and the Braves would be hitting .196 as a team.
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