The Braves’ lack of power screams off the pages of baseball statistics.
Among the 30 major league teams, only the Braves haven’t reached double-digits in home runs. They have six. The Dodgers ranked next to last entering Thursday, with 20.
Entering Thursday, the Braves and the Orioles were the only teams yet to hit a triple, and the Braves ranked tied for 23rd in doubles, with 41. That total comes with a major assist from Nick Markakis. His 11 doubles ranked tied for third in the majors.
Freddie Freeman has three of the team’s homers and is the only player who has hit more than one.
Where the numbers really stagger the mind are in slugging percentage. Entering Thursday, the Braves ranked last, with a percentage of .289. That’s 65 points lower than the 29th-ranked Padres (.354). In fact, the Padres were closer to the 13th-ranked Mariners (.415) than to the Braves. So fewer points separated the 13th and the 29th teams than separated the 29th and 30th teams.
The story is similar at the top. No. 14 Washington was only 61 points behind the top-ranked Rockies.
Freeman is the only Braves player with a slugging percentage of .400 or better. His .421 ranked 113th in the majors, and 12 teams had higher slugging percentages than Freeman’s .421.
Also by comparison, the Braves’ .289 slugging percentage was only seven points more than the Pirates’ team batting average, which led the majors.
These numbers help explain the roster shuffles and general angst as the Braves have woefully compiled their 7-20 record and why the team is on pace for a 42-120 record.
