BOSTON — The Braves have been unable to score runs this season in large part because they lack power hitting. That hasn't prompted manager Fredi Gonzalez to order his non-pitchers to hit sacrifice bunts to move runners — entering Wednesday Erick Aybar was the only position player with a sacrifice hit this season.
The lack of so-called “small ball” by the Braves has prompted some critics to conclude that Gonzalez would be better off “manufacturing” runs. In general the numbers don’t favor hitting sacrifice bunts regularly, especially early in games, because it costs teams runs over the long haul.
Gonzalez said he’s not totally on board with that line of thinking, but instead believes it only make sense to sacrifice bunt a lot if the pitching staff is strong.
“If you’ve got a pitching staff where you can get one run and hold it, I think you go for that (sacrifice),” he said. “But I think it’s the strength of your pitching staff, and I mean from the starter all the way to the bullpen.”
The Braves have gotten few quality starts from their pitchers and the bullpen has been inconsistent.
Gonzalez said he also considers the game situation when deciding whether to sacrifice bunt. But he said even late in games he considers which hitters will be at the plate after the bunt has been executed.
As an example, Gonzalez cited a game against the Dodgers last week in which Kelly Johnson went to bat in the eighth inning with a man on first, no outs and the score tied 3-3. Johnson swung away and flied out to deep center field, and Erick Aybar and Jace Peterson followed with fly outs to end the inning.
Gonzalez said he didn’t have Johnson sacrifice in that situation because both Aybar and Peterson were struggling at the plate.
“It’s not so much bunting with the guy who is hitting, it’s the guys hitting behind him,” Gonzalez said.
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