There are a LOT of MLB teams that would love to be in the Atlanta Braves shoes right now.
That’s because the Braves are playing the best baseball of most of the MLB teams these days. They just ended a seven-game winning streak Sunday. They almost landed another series sweep against the Washington Nationals, but they went 2 out of 3 losing the last game, 6-2 at Truist Park.
They remain waaay ahead of the National League East (40 wins, 25 losses/.615 average) with 3.5 games ahead of the second-place Marlins.
Obviously one of the biggest reasons for the Braves’ success is the bats are alive. Ron Acuna Jr. leads the hitting leaders in the team with a .331 average. Sean Murphy, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies follow in order. None of them are batting under a .250 avg. And they are getting the hits (and the runs) when they need them.
It also doesn’t hurt when your starting pitchers are all below a 3.79 earned run average. Braves pitching is doing quite well, not that there’s no room for improvement, especially those who aren’t in the starter roster.
What the Braves could probably use right now is a rest, but they won’t be getting one this week. The team immediately plays the Detroit Tigers (26-37/.413) in Detroit starting tonight at 6:30 pm first pitch and continues for the two more games, then they head home to Truist to play the Colorado Rockies (27-40/.403) for a four-game series. They don’t get an off day until next Monday.
But the Braves are playing with such energy now, and the two teams they face are underachieving, so they are likely to win more games this week than lose.
