Braves Briefing: The first inning offense for Atlanta continues to dominate

The Atlanta Braves continue to absolutely wreck opposing pitchers from the first pitch

Lindsay Crosby | Jul 2, 2023

The Atlanta Braves are really good in the first inning.

So good, in fact, that it surprises manager Brian Snitker, who has been coaching in the Braves organization since being released from his minor league playing contract in 1980.

“I’ve never seen anything like that first-inning thing,” he told reporters on Saturday after Atlanta put up six runs against phenom Eury Perez in the first inning, knocking him from the game after recording only one out.

Other MLB veterans are surprised by just how good the Braves are in the first inning, too: “I’ve seen enough where not much surprises me anymore,” 39-year-old Braves pitcher Charlie Morton, who picked up the win on Saturday, said. “But that is pretty rare.”

Atlanta has scored 87 runs in the first inning, a full twenty-one runs better than the 2nd place team, the Los Angeles Dodgers with 66. They've put up a five-spot seven times this year, including three times in the past seven games. The next closest team in number of five-run first innings this year, Arizona, has two on the entire season.

Snitker chalks it up to the offensive approaches at the top of the lineup, where Ronald Acuña Jr leads baseball with 28 runs, 33 hits, and 10 doubles in the first inning. Behind him, Matt Olson leads baseball with 10 homers in the first frame, and Austin Riley is right behind him with 9. Those three players are the only ones in the National League with twenty-five or more hits in the first inning.

“They grind at-bats,” Snitker said. “I think all the runs we’re scoring and all of the damage we’re doing is a byproduct of that.”

National League East Standings on Sunday, July 2nd

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	55-27	--	vs Marlins
Miami	48-36	8.0	@ Braves
Philadelphia	44-38	11.0	vs Nationals
New York Mets	37-46	18.5	vs Giants
Washington	33-49	22.0	@ Phillies

We Wrote It

Our Editor in Chief, Lindsay Crosby, was covering yesterday's game and noticed that Orlando Arcia's recent cold streak should be coming to an end soon:

The Braves shortstop, starting in this year's All-Star Game for the National League, has been in a bit of a slump recently that saw his batting average drop from .341 to .298 over the last two weeks. He was the only Atlanta player not to record a hit in Friday night's 16-4 Braves victory, but he showed signs of turning it around today.
Arcia officially went 1-4 with a RBI, thanks to a 1st inning double that scored Marcell Ozuna and was the end of Eury Perez's day, but he had three hard hit balls in the contest. In addition to his double, he had a 97.9 mph forceout in the 3rd inning and a 105.7 mph groundout in the 6th that was a hard hit ball to first.
It's obvious that the issue now for Arcia is luck - or rather, not much of it, as the four batted balls he hit had expected batting averages of .800 (1st inning double), .340 (3rd inning forceout), .360 (6th inning groundout), and .450 (8th inning lineout). Batting Average on Balls in Play is one of those things that normalizes given enough time, but it's gotta be frustrating for the veteran.

Read the entire thing HERE

Highlights from Atlanta's Saturday, July 1st victory over the Miami Marlins

How to Watch the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins on Sunday, June 2nd

First pitch for game three is at 1:35 ET, with Spencer Strider facing off against Sandy Alcantara. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.

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Published Jul 2, 2023

LINDSAY CROSBY

Managing Editor for Braves Today and the 2023 IBWAA Prospects/Minors Writer of the Year. You can reach him at contact@bravestoday.com