If you’re reading this right now, you’re tuned into the Braves enough to know (or fear) that there might be some regression coming with it’s pitching staff this season. Mike Foltynewicz stands out among others that produced fortuitous underlying stats last season, and it only serves to reason that those numbers might regress closer to the mean in 2019. If it happens, it’ll obviously make life tougher on the Braves’ staff.
But there’s a way for things to go the other way — for the Braves staff, both in the rotation and the bullpen, to improve on a good year last season. And it’s pretty fundamental: stop giving away first base on walks.
In the walks department, the Braves were one of the worst teams in all of baseball, allowing 635 (non-intentional) over the course of the 2018 season. Only the Chicago White Sox allowed more batters to take first base for free. It’s amazing that the Braves actually had as much success as they did last year with such a poor mark. Take a look at the other end of the spectrum — the teams with the fewest walks — and you’ll find a bevy of quality baseball teams. Of the five teams that issued the fewest walks, four made the playoffs. The one that didn’t, the Seattle Mariners, won 89 games.
The way walks hurt Atlanta was obvious to anyone that was paying attention. Starters weren’t lasting long, and thus the bullpen was mightily overworked considering the lack of quality. And those relievers didn’t help themselves, walking more batters per nine innings than any other bullpen in baseball.
What makes it even more frustrating for fans is that the Braves have one of the best defenses in the National league with multiple gold glove winners in Freddie Freeman, Nick Markakis and Ender Inciarte, plus glove talent like Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson and Johan Camargo. But even beyond all this talent, Brian Snitker’s clever defensive positioning tweaks helped lead the Braves to being one of baseball’s best defensive teams. The Braves were second only to the Oakland A’s at turning balls in play into outs, and second in the league in hits allowed
With defensive numbers like these, Brian Snitker and new Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz will want Braves pitchers to be pounding the zone and making opposing batters work to get on first base instead of trotting over while blowing bubbles with their gum. Doing so won’t just help the Braves statistically, it’ll help preserve the condition of the individuals themselves, allowing starters to throw deeper into games and relievers to keep arms fresher over the course of the season.
It’s not rocket science.
