Adam Duvall finally got his opportunity in the big leagues again after smashing 29 home runs in AAA Gwinnett and did something in his first six games with the Braves I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before. He posted a slash line of .480/.462/1.120. That means he had a higher batting average than he did on-base percentage, which at first, I was like, “How the hell is that even possible?” Then I was reminded that a sacrifice fly counts against your on-base percentage but not your batting average. Why it’s like that? I have no idea, but that is another argument for another day.
Duvall was making Braves Country a believer in him once again after his putrid 2018 campaign in Atlanta. But since those first six games, it has been all downhill for the enigmatic outfielder, looking much like the bat the Braves traded for at least year’s trade deadline.
Remember the guy who hit .132 with a single extra-base hit and no home runs in 57 plate appearances? Yeah, he’s been even worse over his last 38 at-bats, slashing .105/.190/.132 with one double, no home runs, and abysmal 15 strikeouts.
So for everyone out there that wanted to shove it in our face how well Adam Duvall was doing in his first week back in the majors, this is a friendly reminder that baseball is a game of averages. When your given a long list of data like there is for Duvall over his career, it was always likely that he was going to regress towards his mean. He’s a streaky high-strikeout hitter that can hit home runs in bunches when he is hot. The Braves desperately need to get healthy over this final month and a half because a starting lineup featuring Adam Duvall is not one that is going to get them past the Dodgers.