The Braves are no longer on a 12-1 pace, which would have equated to 150 wins, which I’m almost certain would have been a record. Instead, they entered their game Monday night as losers of seven of nine and on a season pace for 1,512 strikeouts, which would have shattered the franchise record by over 200.
So let’s start with a little perspective here. The Braves probably somewhere between the ’27 Yankees and a fine blueprint for a manufacturer of wind turbines.
“Let’s face it. It was no secret before this season that we were going to swing and miss some,” Tim Hudson said. “But we’re also going to bludgeon some teams to death.”
Settle in. This all-or-nothing brand of baseball that we’ve witnessed the first month of the season is going to be a staple of summer viewing. The Braves are convinced it can work and carry them into the postseason and possible to the World Series. That seems as certain as a team going from 13-2 to 2-7.
On Monday, it worked. The Braves didn’t bludgeon the Washington Nationals but they at least reaffirmed the pecking order in the National League East to this point of the season. Gerald Laird walked and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrelton Simmons in the seventh inning and the Braves held on to defeat the Nationals for the fourth straight time this season 3-2 at Turner Field.
It was remarkably close to a normal baseball game, which is something we haven’t seen a lot of this season, even if 11 more strikeouts — which makes 60 in the last five games — reminded us of the blemishes. Then again, that seems to be a bigger deal after losses, like the three straight in Detroit by a score of 25-7, which preceded the Braves’ return home.
“We already put that behind us, as soon as we showered and washed it off in Detroit,” Dan Uggla said. “It was a crappy end to a crappy road trip but you have to come back, regardless of what time you get in, regardless of how bad you got beat the night before.”
The Braves now have 235 strikeouts, as the nation catches a draft. More on the implausible historical ramifications of the Braves’ whiffs shortly.
To be fair, this hasn’t been all about strikeouts. The Braves were swinging and missing when they were winning. Nobody seemed to care then. The reaction was like, sure, Uggla, Jason Heyward, B.J. and Justin Uptons are striking out a lot, “But forget that — look at our record!”
What ultimately turned the season upside down was starting pitching. The Braves allowed 27 runs in the first 14 games of the season. Then they went on a 10-game trip through the relative Yukon — Colorado, Pittsburgh, Detroit — and allowed 53 runs. Do the math: Opponents went from scoring 1.9 to 5.3.
So while strikeouts have provided the punchlines, this really has been a collective team flop.
“The only reason people are talking about strikeouts now is because that’s what everybody was mentioning before the season,” Justin Upton said.
He was sitting in front of his locker before Monday’s game, wearing one of those “Suffer in Silence” T-shirts that were distributed to players before the season.
“Everybody’s got problems,” he said, referencing the cartoon of the man on the shirt with his mouth taped shut.
The Braves’ starting pitching needs to get better. Julio Teheran allowed hits to six of the first eight Washington batters Monday but often escaped trouble and ultimately allowed just two runs before being lifted in the sixth. The Braves will take it, especially given recent starts by the rotation.
That the Braves are striking out a lot hasn’t blindsided anybody. With the roster they put together, you could see this one coming like a Mike Hampton hamstring pull.
The Braves lead the majors in felonious assaults on baseballs with 36 homers and rank fifth in slugging percentage. But they’re 235 strikeouts factor out to a cartoon like 9.4 per game.
Only the Houston Astros have struck out more times, and they don’t really count.
At this pace, the Braves would strike out 1,523 times, which would obliterate the franchise record of 1,289 (set last year).
“You can look at it this way,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “You’re not hitting any ground balls into double plays.”
And that’s why he only does two shows a night.
Uggla had a team high 31 strikeouts in his first 75 at-bats. He has had only two games where he hasn’t struck out at least once and had four the other night in Detroit, when Anibal Sanchez had 17 (and the Braves 18).
“It’s a lot harder to get over a four-strikeout night than a four-groundout night,” he said. “At the same time, it’s still 0-for-4. … We definitely want to make the adjustment to where we don’t strike out 16, 17 times a game, no matter who you are, even though we’re capable of doing that and still put up six or seven runs. It looks bad.”
The Braves are trying to make it work. They’re now 16-9, including 4-0 against the only other team given a shot to win the East. When a team wins, the blemishes don’t get noticed as much.
About the Author
