Travis d'Arnaud 2020 Season Recap
Thirty-one-year-old Travis d’Arnaud finished his seventh major league season, posting a career-best slash line of .321/.386/.533 (53- for-165) in 44 games…He hit nine home runs and drove in 34. • Led all primary catchers (min. 175 plate appearances) in: batting average (.321), on-base percentage (.386), slugging percentage (.533), RBI (34) and wRC+ (145)...His nine home runs were third most.
Fell two plate appearances shy of being a “qualified” hitter...Batted .321 (53-for-165)...The only qualified Braves catcher in the franchise’s modern era (since 1900) to post a higher batting average was Ernie Lombardi, who hit .330 in 1942. • Hit safely in 33 of his 39 starts.
Had a career-best 57.8% hard-hit rate (batted balls with an exit velocity over 95 mph), topped only by the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. (62.2%)..d’Arnaud’s 93.4 average exit velocity was also a career high, and ranked sixth in the majors.
All nine of his home runs came off right-handers...Posted a 1.026 OPS against righties, hitting .344/.414/.611 (45-for-131)...Had a .506 OPS against southpaws in 34 at-bats. • Homered, on average, once every 18.33 at-bats this season, far better than the 26.79 ratio he had in his first seven major-league seasons.
He twice homered in consecutive games, first from September 4-5 and then from September 18-19...Had just one of these streaks in his career before this season (also 2 games, 6/6-8/19). • Batted .333/.420/.540 in 23 games in September...Reached base safely in his final 16 games, a career-long streak...Only the Dodgers’ Justin Turner ended the campaign with a longer on-base stretch...d’Arnaud had a .417 on-base percentage in that span, which dated to 9/9.
On July 31, playing in his first game against the Mets, who he spent parts of his first seven seasons with, had a go-ahead, bases-clearing double in the eighth inning that capped a five-run frame and a six-run comeback... Had a single-game, career-high-tying five RBI. • Went 11-for-24 (.458) with three home runs and 11 RBI in six games against the Mets.
Made his Braves debut on July 29, Atlanta’s home opener...Signed a two-year deal with Atlanta in November.
For more Atlanta Braves coverage, listen to The Bill Shanks Show weekdays at 3:00 p.m. ET on SportsRadio 93.1 FM WXKO TheSuperStations.com. Follow Bill on Twitter @billshanks and email him at TheBillShanksShow@yahoo.com.