The Braves have been the most aggressive lineup in the majors this season, swinging at far more first pitches than any other team and having plenty of success with that approach.
But if the Giants’ strategy during a three-game series that ended Sunday was any indication of what’s ahead, Braves hitters might have to make an adjustment.
San Francisco pitchers didn’t throw nearly as many hittable first pitches as the Braves saw previously, and the Giants swept three games while holding Atlanta’s offense in check throughout the series.
After batting .287 with 26 homers and 5.7 runs per game during a 13-6 stretch before facing the Giants, the Braves hit .238 with two homers and a total of nine runs in three games against the Giants.
Braves manager Brian Snitker had no doubt about the opponent adjusting to his team’s aggressiveness.
“Absolutely. They’re probably trying to get us to expand the zone and things like that,” Snitker said after Sunday’s 4-3 loss, in which the Braves had one run and no extra-base hits until Kurt Suzuki doubled in a two-run ninth inning. “They’re watching all these games we’re playing. They see that (aggressiveness), so they’re going to pick up on it. We’re going to have to re-adjust.
“We’re just going to have to be more patient. ... It’s what it’s all about, making adjustments. We talk about it all the time. And if they’re going to start pitching us differently then we’re going to have to have a better approach.”
The Braves have been one of the majors’ top offensive teams all season and first-pitch swinging has been a key part of that. They entered Sunday leading the National League in runs and slugging percentage and leading the majors in batting average and on-base percentage.
The Braves swung at 461 first pitches before Sunday and no other team had swung at as many as 410. That was a majors-high 35.7 percent of first-pitch swings for Atlanta, which had a majors-leading 62 first-pitch hits before Sunday including nine first-pitch homers, trailing only the Yankees and Mariners in the latter category.
The Braves’ 51.2 percent of pitches taken – overall pitches, not just first pitches – was second-lowest in the majors before Sunday. But they’ve not been just flailing away, their percentage of swings put in play (39.6) was third-highest in baseball and their 252 strikeouts were the fewest in the NL before Sunday. They’ve been aggressive and efficient.
Braves Ozzie Albies and Ender Inciarte were tied with three others for the majors lead in at-bats in which the first pitch was put in play with 25 apiece before Sunday, and teammates Freddie Freeman (23) and Suzuki (20) weren’t far behind.
Only Bryce Harper (six) had more first-pitcher homers than Albies (four).
“It’s the balls in play, it’s the damage that they’re doing,” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said last week, discussing the first-pitch aggressiveness and how the strategy was working. “They’re still taking their walks when they’re not getting the pitch in their spot. I mean, the first-pitch swinging goes against everything that I ever grew up knowing to be right, because when we played it was work pitch counts, grind that frickin’ starter to get to the bullpen. But the way the bullpens are orchestrated nowadays, you almost don’t want to get to the bullpen, depending on who’s down there.
“So as long as these guys are being aggressive and selective on their first-pitch swinging. ... And it comes back to who’s having success doing it and who’s not.”
Not until the Giants series was it glaring that the opposing pitchers weren’t giving Braves hitters much to swing at on first pitches. But Snitker said he noticed at least a subtle difference lately from other pitchers, too.
“I’ve noticed it quite honestly off and on for a while,” he said. “But the guys have done a good job getting decisions on balls in the strike zone. I do not want them to not be aggressive. We’re going to have to play like that. And they’ll figure it out.”
Inciarte was asked about opposing pitchers not throwing as many first-pitch strikes against the Braves.
“I think that’s not a bad thing,” he said, “because if they start pitching around (hitters), we should just take those take those balls and starting getting on base, take our walks. But they’re going to do whatever they can to get us out of being on base, so we’ve just got to do our best to score some runs and we’re going to continue to do it.”
