Last night, the Braves did the unthinkable with runners in scoring position to start their series finale with the Dodgers.
In the first inning, Michael Harris II was able to get to third base with less than two outs, but the Braves were unable to get him in. Two innings later, Harris would get on base again with nobody out, which was followed by a Jorge Soler double, only for Harris to get thrown out at home on a bang-bang play at the plate. Still, the Braves had two opportunities to get Soler in from second and failed to even advance the runner.
But things really took a turn for the ridiculous the following frame, when Ramon Laureano led off the inning with a triple that banged hard off the right field wall. It was a golden opportunity again for the Braves to tie the game, but a strikeout, followed by a groundout and lineout left a runner standing in scoring position for the third time in four innings.
The Braves would go on to finish the night scoreless, going a remarkable 0-12 with runners in scoring position, a trend that could end up ultimately costing Atlanta a spot in the postseason.
This is a club that’s been devastated by injuries from start to finish, and the fact that they are even in the playoff hunt is somewhat remarkable in itself, a testament to their pitching staff, which has been the best in baseball. However, the offense hasn’t held up their end of the bargain, in large part due to their failures with runners on.
Nobody should expect the Braves lineup to explode for seven runs a night like they have in years past. There isn’t enough talent for that to happen over a large sample size. But what isn’t too much to ask is for them to change their approach. This is a club that still seems to be treating everything like it’s home run or bust. The problem with that is they don’t have many guys that can hit home runs.
Time and time again, the Braves offense fails to play ABC baseball. They don’t try to move guys over and strike out far too often. Chipper Jones talked about it not too long ago, and his words ring even truer this morning.
“I’m old school man, and it’s not going away. Working with the Braves for the last couple of years has been very frustrating,” Chipper Jones said recently on the “Casa de Klub” podcast, via Sportsnaut. “Can’t stand giving away outs. I can’t stand strikeouts. Can’t deal with a guy on third, less than two outs, and hitting a ground ball to shortstop or second base.
“I can’t stand every once in a while not laying down a bunt for your best hitters. A hundred RBIs? So what. This is truly a ‘chicks dig the long ball’ kind of era.”
When fully healthy, that kind of thing can get overlooked because the talent ultimately wins out over nine innings. But as hobbled as they are, the Braves have to start doing the little things down the stretch, or they will find themselves missing out on postseason baseball for the first time since 2017.
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Photographer: Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
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