The Atlanta Braves are still looking for their first win of the season, and part of the reason why the Braves have gotten off to such a slow start is because of their inconsistency on offense. As a team the Braves are batting .151, and earlier today The Morning Shift had Hall of Fame pitcher and Braves legend John Smoltz on the show and they asked him if some of the Braves’ offensive struggles are because of the way their lineup is built. Smoltz responded by saying “absolutely”, and then went on to elaborate.
“Absolutely, and on the flip side they don’t have their identity yet, and their identity is Ronald Acuña, he makes everything better, he starts off the top of the lineup and creates a lag effect for the pitchers especially when he gets on base and they are built for home runs, they’re built for putting up big amount of runs when the other pitcher is not on their game, but they have too much swing and miss in their lineup there’s no doubt about it.” Smoltz said.
John continued by talking about how there’s no shame in the way the Braves are built because that’s what the game has evolved too, and the people making decisions are okay with swing and miss players.
“It is part of the game. It’s what the game has evolved to like it or not it’s just part of the game. It’s not a disgrace in the eyes of people who are making decisions for you to swing and miss because what they’ve figured out or at least what their plan is I’d rather have you swing the same way three times hoping that you won’t run into a home run, and so it is part of what happens when you struggle and pitchers are on their game and let’s face it there’s velocity and spin like we’ve never seen it, so they do have to get back to their identity and that means getting a couple people going at the same time which has not been the case in the first seven.” Smoltz said
John finished his thought by talking about how it is a long season, and a lot can happen during a long 162 game MLB season, but it’s going to be hard for the Braves to change who they are, and that with the way this team is built they just kind of have to do their best to get going and live with the results.
“The season is a marathon everybody knows it, but you sometimes show yourself what you are, and it’s hard to change that like it’s hard to midseason change your approach if you are a certain type of team you have to live and die by it.”
The Braves rely on extra base hits, and the home run ball that’s just what it is, and that’s just how their lineup is built, and until guys like Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris II get going Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson will continue to get pitched around and walked.
Ronald Acuña Jr. will be able to add a new element to the team when he returns, but until then guys just have to hit better, start hitting with runners in scoring position, and start hitting home runs.