Braves Utility Man Mauricio Dubón is Better in the Clutch Than You Think

Few thrive in the clutch the way Mauricio Dubón has for the Atlanta Braves this season. His latest example came in one of his preferred spots, with two outs and with runners in scoring position

He belted a three-run home run into the Braves bullpen in right-center field in the bottom of the third inning to give the Braves a lead they’d never relinquish.

The Braves went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-3, and claimed another series.

“Just has a knack for slowing the game down in those big moments, manager Walt Weiss said after the game.

Following Wednesday night’s game, he’s batting .440 with a 1.310 OPS in this exact situation. The higher the pressure, the more he thrives.

“You want to deliver when the pressure’s there and everything,” Dubón said Wednesday night. “Anyone can hit a three-run home run and everything, but when you actually need it, you know, when you don’t do that, a team loses.”

The irony of wanting to deliver in big spots is that during that home run is that he felt he didn’t put too much effort into that swing. Patrick Corbin showed him the sinker in an ideal spot, and he obliged.

Perhaps that’s the type of mindset that helps him succeed in these situations, or any tight spot for that matter.

Dubón does better with two outs in general compared to any other time during an inning.

No outs: .699 OPS
One out: .529 OPS
Two outs: .806 OPS

Like in the most recent game, if the team is behind, there’s a higher likelihood that he delivers.

He bats .250 with a .692 OPS when the Braves have the lead compared to batting .310 with an .889 OPS when they trail their opponent.

Even when he may not have had the best month in May, the underlying stats show that he’ll be a threat at any moment.

Naturally, he’d like to deliver all the time, but that’s just not how it works. That’s baseball.

“Sometimes, I hit balls off 100 and like 105; it gets caught,” he said. “And then, sometimes, you get jammed. It’s a season. It’s a long year. That’s why we play 162. You're gonna go up and down and everything, and, you know, you want to hit .350 the whole year, but no, it's not gonna happen.”

He credits the opportunity the Braves have given him, including staying in games longer than he previously had, with the success he has had this season. Normally, he’d be pinch-hit for if he wasn’t doing too well in a game, but the Braves continue to leave him in there to see if he can get it done.

However, Walt Weiss said that this faith in him has stemmed from the production Dubón has given the team. It was all earned.

“All the credit goes to him, because he’s the one out there performing,” Weiss said. “And he’s been doing it from the beginning. He’s a big reason why we’re where we’re at right now.”

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