The Braves are one of the most potent offenses in baseball. The club ranks third in the league in home runs, second in slugging, and is in the top 1% of the league in xBA, xSLG, and xwOBA. It all starts at the top with Ronald Acuna Jr., who is well on his way to an NL MVP, unless Sean Murphy continues his impressive play.
Acuna sets the tone for the Braves. He’s reaching base nearly 45% of the time, and that number is even better in the 1st inning. The Venezuelan superstar leads the MLB in runs and the NL in steals with a 167 wRC+ while playing elite defense. He’s fully back, thumping his chest around the bases and making plays all over the yard.
A week ago, Chase wrote about how Ronald Acuna was the best 1st inning player ever, thanks to his near .600 batting average at that point. And I’ve got another incredible stat for you: Acuna has totaled more runs (11) in the 1st inning than the Mets (9) have as an entire team.
Total runs scored in the first inning this season:
Ronald Acuña Jr. ———————> 10 runs
New York Mets (the whole team) —-> 9 runs— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 9, 2023
Ronald Acuna is 17-for-33 (.515) with six doubles, one home run, seven steals, two walks, and now 11 runs in the 1st inning this season — a .515/.556/1.344 slash line. He’s basically producing more than the entire Mets lineup.
The Braves are averaging 0.89 runs in the 1st inning, which ranks second in baseball behind the Rays, who are averaging 0.92 1st inning runs, while the Mets rank dead last with 0.25 runs.
And if Braves fans don’t have enough ammo for their personal arguments with Mets fans, Atlanta is slugging (.634) more than New York’s OPS (.542) in the 1st inning.
It’s always fun being one of the best teams in baseball, but it’s even more fun for Braves Country to dominate the division as they have. Atlanta currently holds a 7.5-game lead over the Marlins and 8 games over the Mets and Phillies.
It’s far too early in the season to make any sweeping judgments, but the Braves are set up to run away with the division for the sixth consecutive season.
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Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire
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