Ender Inciarte has opened the second half on a much-needed tear.
The Braves’ gold-glove center fielder hadn’t been himself at the plate. He was hitting .227 in the leadoff spot, and barely surviving against southpaws (.208) after hitting .291 off last season.
He’s the same player who earned a 200-hit season in 2017. Inciarte hit .298 in his first two seasons with the Braves with a .350 on-base percentage. He was always one of their few bright spots, even serving as their only All-Star representative a year ago.
But as the Braves have taken off, Inciarte hadn’t caught up. He slashed .241/.312/.337 in the first half, and since stealing 18 bases in April, has swiped just five.
In 53 games at leadoff, he slashed .227/.297/.271. He was dropped in the order, hitting sixth and seventh, but it resulted in just spurts of success.
Inciarte looks “back” since the second half began. Manager Brian Snitker opted to move Ronald Acuna to leadoff, dropping Inciarte to seventh in the order.
Monday’s 12-1 win in Miami was Inciarte’s second consecutive three-hit game. Since the break, he was hitting .462 (6-for-13) with a .500 on-base percentage entering Tuesday.
He went 1-for-4 in the Braves’ 9-3 loss Tuesday, but his defense was the letdown. Inciarte’s fielding error on a Brian Anderson single led to two unearned runs. His throw to third baseman Johan Camargo was ruled an error on Camargo’s part, though it could’ve been called the other way.
Still, as Snitker said after the game, the Braves are a strong defensive club. Inciarte, despite two errors in three games, is a major reason why.
Revisiting his offense, it wouldn’t be the first time Inciarte got a late start. In 2016, he hit .341 in the second half after posting a .227 mark before the break. His on-base percentage leaped from .294 to .396, his OPS climbed from .599 to .836.
His last season in Arizona (2015), Inciarte hit .287 in the first half and improved to .319 in the second. Even 2017, when Inciarte was the model of consistency, his average bumped from .302 to .306 after the break.
One can delve into deeper metrics, but across the board, there’s evidence to suggest Inciarte is a second-half hitter, to at least some degree.
“He had a great day (Sunday), and looked really good again (Monday),” Snitker said. “It’s the result of his hard work, and it’d be huge to get him back going.”
Inciarte worked at length with hitting coach Kevin Seitzer during Saturday’s postponement in Washington. For Inciarte to come anywhere close to his norms would be considered a second-half acquisition for a team that’s in contention despite his offensive struggles.
He already has bumped his average against lefties up five points in three games, though .214 is a large dropoff from his .268 career mark. His .261 average against right-handers is also well below his .295 career average.
There’s precedent to a possible down-the-stretch surge: The 27-year-old is a career .318 hitter after the All-Star break. The Braves will hope he stays true to that form.
