Braves 11-9 at the one-third mark
Usually, the first-third of a baseball season is after 54 games. This year, in the great 2020, it's instead after 20 games.
The Braves are 11-9, with a three-game losing streak. They are a game back of the Marlins, the team they play a three-game series with this weekend. But the Marlins are 8-4 and have played eight fewer games than the Braves.
While there have been a lot of obstacles for the Braves, the best news is the emergence of Max Fried as a staff ace.
Here are some interesting stats about the Braves:
- The Braves 4.45 team ERA is 21 best in baseball, 10th best in the National League.
- The Atlanta starters have a 5.72 ERA, fifth worst in the game, third worst in the NL.
- The bullpen has a 3.22 ERA, third-best in MLB and in the NL.
- Atlanta’s bullpen has pitched the second-most innings in baseball (86.2).
- Braves team batting average is .244, tied for 11 best in baseball, sixth-best in NL
- Braves have scored the most runs in the sport, with 104.
- Braves at home are 7-2 with a +19 run differential and 4-7 on the road and a -3 run differential
The Braves next 20 games include: (along with their records going into Thursday's action):
- 3 games at Miami (8-4)
- 3 games vs. Washington (6-9)
- 3 games vs. Philadelphia (5-9)
- 2 games vs. New York Yankees (12-6)
- 3 games at Philadelphia (5-9)
- 3 games at Boston (6-13)
- 3 games vs. Washington (6-9)
Listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on Middle Georgia’s ESPN. You can listen online at TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter at @billshanks and you can email him at thebillshanksshow@yahoo.com.