To most normal folks, the Braves offensive woes are unexplainable. Sure, injuries have played their part, but that alone can’t explain a lineup going from historically great to one of the worst offenses in baseball in just one season. Injuries are only part of the problem, and Braves legend Chipper Jones recently discussed some of the other issues he’s seen when watching from afar this season.
“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.”
Chipper Jones isn’t merely just talking about the Atlanta Braves. Most of the league has adopted this sort of “home run or die” approach. The Braves have just done it a little more than the rest, and it’s worked for them. Six straight NL East titles and a World Series speak for themselves, which also includes an offense from a year ago that tied the record for the most homers in a season with 307 and set the record for the highest team slugging percentage, becoming the first team in MLB history to slug over .500 as a team.
Nearly every member of the Braves went on to have some form of career year last season, but as Jones notes, when the market corrects, adjustments have to be made.
“In a year like that, everything’s great. When the market corrects, like it is this year, you have to do other things,” Jones said on the “Casa de Klub” podcast, via Fansided. “Until recently, the last week or 10 days, the market has corrected and they have struggled. It’s hard to watch.”
Replicating last season would have been nearly impossible, given how everybody performed above their career averages. Regression was always likely, and the injuries have only compounded the problem.
However, what’s been frustrating, for both fans and Chipper Jones, is the Braves seemingly haven’t even attempted to acknowledge the issue and adjust. They’ve accepted being a home run or bust team. Unfortunately, most of these guys don’t hit home runs, and the ones that do are settling for solo shots, because nobody is getting on base in front of them.
With just 18 games left in the season, the Braves are now on the outside looking in of the three National League Wild Card spots, trailing the Mets by one game. There’s still time for change, but expecting it this late in the year is closer to insanity than it is even wishful thinking.
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Photographer: David Griffin/Icon Sportswire
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