How impressive has the Atlanta Braves offense been?
When the Atlanta Braves finished off their sweep of the Minnesota Twins, they are officially on pace to have the most wins in a regular season ever fueled by a 20-4 record in June and an offense that somehow got even better over the last month.
So, how good has the offense actually been?
In case you have not made the connection, that means they have set the modern day franchise record for most wins in the first eighty games.
Of course, winning games is not based on scoring more runs than anyone else in the league overall, but scoring more runs than your individual opponents in individual games. That being said, the Braves currently lead the NL in runs scored, which has helped quite a bit in their NL leading run differential.
So, how impressive has this offense been? There are quite a few fun stats that really stick out.
First, let’s look at total runs. The Braves are currently on pace to score 893 this season. That is a pace of 5.512 runs per game. This is the most runs per game since 2020, but that was the COVID shortened season. Outside of that season, 5.512 runs per game would be the most since the Braves averaged 5.598 in 2003 when they scored 907 runs, which is the most since the 1897 Boston Beaneaters scored 1025 in 135 games.
5.512 would be the second highest in a full season, but what makes it even more impressive is that offense across the league is lower in 2023 than it was 20 years ago in 2003. So far this season, teams are averaging 4.55 runs per game, whereas in 2003 teams were averaging 4.73 runs per game.
The Braves this year are scoring more runs per game above league average than they were in 2003. This season they are averaging .962 more runs per game than league average, but .868 more runs per game than average in 2003.
Digging into the lineup
If we look at OPS+ which shows a player’s adjusted OPS where 100 is league average, every single starter has an OPS+ league average or better. This includes platoon members. The Braves have twelve hitters with an OPS+ of 100 or higher.
Even the 2003 Braves can’t claim this. Only six of the starters had on OPS+ 100 or higher and nine hitters total if you include players like Jesse Garcia who only played in thirteen games.
The Braves lead all of MLB in OPS at .827. The second closest team is the Rays at .801. That is a difference of .026 points. To put that gap in perspective, a gap of .026 would drop a team from 2nd place down to 5th.
They are 3rd in runs created plus (wRC+), in MLB at 121. That is 21.0 percent better than league average. To put that in perspective, the second highest team wRC+ in the NL is 109, which is held by the Dodgers. That is a difference of 12.0 percentage points. If you were to take 12.0 percentage points away from the Dodgers, they would drop all the way down to 21st in MLB. Needless to say, the gap is massive.
How do traditional stats stack up?
The league average slash line is currently .248/319/.409, and the Braves are slashing .270/.340/.487.
Now, let’s look at how the Braves stack up against the rest of the NL:
· Runs – 1st
· Hits – 1st
· 2B – 8th
· 3B – 11th
· BB – 8th
· SO – 4th
· Batting Average – 1st
· OBP – 1st
· Slugging Percentage – 1st
· Total Bases – 1st
Needless to say, the Atlanta Braves offense is on fire. The great part is we only covered the bat, and did not touch on pitching or base running, which the Braves are above average at.
Here is to hoping this offense continues to rake going into this series against the Marlins.
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