Key Stats Reflect Braves' Inconsistencies on Offense Early in Season

Little went right for the Atlanta Braves in their 5-2 loss to the Athletics Tuesday night. Along with shaky performance from their starter, Jose Suarez, the bats did little to back him up.

The Braves' heavy reliance on the longball and the big inning early in the season caught up with them. They went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left nine total runners on base. One of the runs came off a solo shot from Drake Baldwin, and the other came off a sac fly from Ronald Acuña Jr. that plated Dominic Smith.

A runner was stranded at third in the fifth. The lead-off man got on in the seventh, and he never got past first base. They had two on with one out in the ninth, and nothing came out of it.

“Offense is a little sluggish right now,” he said Tuesday night. “Had some opportunities. Had our guys up there, but you got to get it going a little bit here with the offense.”

He gave credit to Athletics’ starter Aaron Civale where it was due. He felt he mixed the cutter and the curveball well to miss bats. But he felt there was more to it than the pitcher had a good night, even if it’s something that should sort itself out soon.

“We got some guys who are spinning the wheels right now in the lineup, and they’re going to get going. That’s where we’re at right now. We’re going to get going offensively. Just a little hiccup right here in a couple days.”

To say the bats have outright struggled as a whole wouldn't be telling an honest story. They've had three games with four or more runs scored, with two occasions where they scored six. However, some inconsistencies need to be ironed out.

Through five games, the team, overall, is batting .235 with a .690 OPS with runners in scoring position. They haven’t been able to capitalize on having runners on with no outs. They have one RBI in any situation in which there were no outs and a runner was on base.

That’s going to have to change if they want to have a more reliable offense this season. The goal was to have a more well-rounded offense this season. That plan has yet to translate outside of a few innings where they were able to keep the line moving.

Right-handed bats have specifically struggled against righties early on. They have a .346 OPS in this split compared to a .870 OPS when they face a lefty.

It doesn’t help when two key right-handed bats have been streaky to start the season. Austin Riley had a solid opening day performance, but he is 1-for-15 since then. Ronald Acuña Jr. has had three games where he’s failed to reach base and two in which he struck out three times.

Left-handed bats in the lineup, overall, have looked solid regardless of who they have faced. However, there is one glaring exception. Matt Olson is 2-for-11 in his last three games.

One key bat having a tough few games is one thing. It’s going to happen. Having three key bats at once is an issue. It’s going to be a tough time if they take time to find consistency.

So far, we’re not seeing big steps from the baserunning. They’ve had four stolen base attempts with just one being successful. Again, they haven’t had the most ideal situations for it yet, but there were times where maybe moving a guy up 90 feet would have helped in a rally.

It’s a long year, and they’ve already done better to start than last year, as low a bar as that can be. The goal is to just prevent early missed opportunities from coming back to bite you later.

The Braves look to take the series against the A’s on Wednesday during a getaway game to wrap up the homestand. Chris Sale is on the mound for a 12:15 p.m. first pitch.