PHILADELPHIA – The Braves are swinging at more first pitches than any other major league team, but they’ve managed to be aggressive while maintaining a sound approach, making solid contact and avoiding a surge in strikeouts.
This is exactly what hitting coach Kevin Seitzer hoped to see from his charges and what the Braves had in mind when they increased the use of data analytics across all areas of their team under first-year general manager Alex Anthopoulos.
It goes something like this: Study opposing pitcher’s tendencies more than ever, be as prepared as possible, then be aggressive – very aggressive – but without expanding the strike zone as a hitter.
“That’s ideally what you’re looking for is aggressive in the zone, be ready first pitch, second, fifth … and be on time,” Seitzer said. “That’s the biggest thing, is not be caught in-between (fastballs and off-speed pitches). Have your mind set for a heater (fastball) in a spot and adjust to the off-speed. We’ve got game plans and guys have been executing really good without sacrificing anything.
“Which is where you want them to be. Ideal.”
To wit, the Braves entered Friday’s series opener at Philadelphia ranked first in the National League in runs (134), doubles (57), batting average (.269), slugging percentage (.436), OPS (.778) and total bases (375), and ranked second in OBP (.342, a tick behind the Cubs’ .343). The Braves were tied for fourth in home runs (27).
They had done this while posting the highest percentage of first-pitch swings in the majors at 35.1 percent, just ahead of the Cubs (34.1). Only four other teams are as high as 30 percent and the Marlins (22.7) and Phillies (23.4) have the lowest percentage of first-pitch swings.
The Braves swung at 340 first pitches in 24 games before Friday, while the Cubs (308) were the only other team that had swung at as many as 300.
But despite the aggressiveness, the Braves were tied with the Cubs for second-fewest strikeouts in the NL with 197.
“You just try to grind it out,” Braves veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki said of the approach. “You get a good pitch to hit early, go for it, you know? Be aggressive in the zone, kind of put the pitcher on his heels. Don’t let him dictate the at-bat; we dictate the at-bat.”
The Braves had none of the league’s top 27 srikeout totals before Friday, with Dansby Swanson tied for 28th with his team-high 23 strikeouts in 95 at-bats). Swanson has bounced back from a disappointing rookie season in 2017 and gotten off to strong start this year, batting .311 with a .363 OBP and tied with teammate Ozzie Albies for the NL hits lead with 30 before Friday.
Albies and Preston Tucker were the the only other Braves in the league’s top 50 in strikeouts, those two Braves tied with a few others for 48th with 20 strikeouts apiec, Tucker in 73 at-bats and Albies in 104 at-bats while batting .288 with a stunning .635 slugging percentage and a majors-leading 19 extra-base hits including eight home runs before Friday.
Albies had almost as many extra-base hits as strikeouts and Tucker has almost as many RBIs (team-high 18) as K’s.
The Braves’ aggressiveness is also evident by their 3.74 pitches seen per plate appearance, lowest average in the National League and third-lowest in the majors. Yet they ranked 10th in the majors with 89 walks.
Swanson led the Braves in highest average pitches per plate appearance with 4.18 -- 19th in the NL before Friday -- while Nick Markakis was next among Braves at 3.95, tied for 46th in the league. He was followed among Braves by Albies (3.82), Freddie Freeman (3.77) and Tucker (3.76).
“I think maybe all the preparation that we’re doing, I don’t know, has given them a confident approach -- they’re prepared and they’re ready,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t think they’re going to see a lot that they’re not prepared for. And it’s a credit to the guys that with two strikes, we are putting the ball in play. Good things can happen when you put the ball in play. ‘Cause we’ve got some guys that can run and force people into errors and things like that. So we just hope it continues on.”
