Late last week, the Atlanta Braves became the fifth franchise in the history of Major League Baseball to win 11,000 games. The team has been around for a long time and was actually one of the founding members of the National League back in 1876.
That's a lot of baseball, and, in that nearly 150 years worth of teams, we are witnessing its best in the history of this club in 2023.
FOX Sports' Ben Verlander joined Grant McAuley on Sunday morning to discuss what makes this Braves team so dominant and why it should be considered the best in franchise history.
“[What the lineup is doing right now] is unprecedented. The pace they're on a home run-wise [and] power-wise is obviously historic, but it's not just that, it's everything throughout the lineup,” Verlander told McAuley on Sunday afternoon about this Braves lineup. “There's no easy out. I said this the other day, the thing that makes the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Braves this year is seven, eight, and nine in their lineup. That's what separates them from everybody else. I mean, everybody was an All-Star and the number nine hitter in their lineup is above league average in OPS. It's remarkable how good and how deep that lineup is.
If there is an argument, it could be one of the Braves clubs from the late 1990s or early 2000s during their run of 14 consecutive division titles. Those teams claimed five seasons of 100 or more wins, highlighted by the 1998 team that, while it didn't win a World Series, won a franchise-record 106 games. The 2023 squad is on pace to win 107.
The team's success has to start with its bats because the lineup has been nothing short of tremendous this season. They lead Major League Baseball in runs per game (5.79), home runs (243), RBIs (716), batting average (.274), on-base percentage (.344), slugging (.499), and OPS (.843). Many of these marks not only lead the Majors, but they blow the competition out of the water.
After game 128, an incredible seven batters already have 20 or more home runs and all nine starters have a chance to achieve that mark as the team chases the MLB record for home runs. With 34 games to go, it's altogether likely that five of those guys finish with 30 or more.
Another major key to their success is the dramatic drop in strikeouts. In 2022, effectively this same Braves lineup struck out a National League-leading (and franchise record) 1,498 times. That number has plummeted to nearly 100 below the league average in 2023 and they're on pace to finish fifth in fewest strikeouts in baseball.
“I believe this is the best Atlanta Braves team that I've ever seen,” Verlander continued. “And it's because of how good that lineup is. And the lineup gets all the talk, but man, the pitching staff, which hasn't even been healthy the majority of the year, is so good when they're healthy and on the mound. It really is a special team this year.”
Not to be out-done by that incredible lineup, the Braves pitching staff leads the National League in ERA (3.78), home runs allowed (133), is second in strikeouts (1195), and is third in hits allowed (1030).
There's not a lot that this team can't do.
Between the incredible run of this lineup and the pitching staff returning to full health, Verlander said it best: “This is the best Braves team of all time.”