Once the Braves acquired Justin Upton in a shocking trade that sent Braves faithful Martin Prado to the Diamondbacks, this team became “elite”. Although they were considered elite, most people still had the Washington Nationals as the best team in the National League; in fact most “experts” picked the Nationals to win the World Series. As we all know now this is not going to happen and the Braves are definitely in the conversation if not at the top of the list for best NL team.
At 73-47 the Braves hold not only the best record in the NL but the overall best record in all of baseball. They have got here due to a lot of different factors; for one the Braves have the best bullpen in baseball and that has came with the loss of Eric O’Flaherty and Jonny Venters. Craig Kimbrel has once again proven to be one of the best closers in all of baseball as he has 37 saves to his name. His 37 saves is the most in the National League and only two behind saves leader Jim Johnson of the Baltimore Orioles. Kimbrel has done very well for the Braves but they have to get to the ninth for any of this to be possible, which brings me to the middle of the bullpen.
Frank Wren made a great, under the radar move at the trade deadline acquiring Scott Downs and he has been brilliant. In five innings he has only given up four hits, walked one and struck out six without giving up a single run. He has not been the only solid relief pitcher as Luis Avilan has been nearly unbeatable this season. In 48.1 innings pitched he has only given up six earned runs while striking out 27 men with an overall ERA of 1.12. The final member of the bullpen I will highlight is Jordan Walden who was brought to Atlanta in another great trade by Frank Wren. The Braves traded Tommy Hanson to the Angels for Walden and Hanson has now been sent down to Triple-A. As for Walden he has been great. His 2.50 ERA is superb and his strikeouts have been awesome as he checks in at 47.
As well as the relief pitching has been this year we cannot forget about this explosive offense. This team did not get the nickname “home run city” for no reason. They are currently leading the NL in home runs at 143, the next closest team is the Cubs who have 126 long balls. The offense doesn’t stop at home runs as they are second in the NL in runs scored at 538. This has taken away from how much this team has been striking out as they have the most k’s in the NL at 1,020. Regardless they have been crushing the ball this year and have won 18 of their last 21 games.
The main reasons the Braves have been playing so good has been the amazing play of Freddie Freeman. His .310 batting average is the eighth best in the NL and his 49 walks is ninth in the NL. He has been one of the most consistent hitters throughout the whole season and has five walk offs to his name. Other big names that have played well is Justin Upton who is leading the team in home runs at 22 which is also sixth in the NL.
Overall this team has had two great stretches of play. One in April when they won 11 straight games and just recently when they won 14 straight games which is also the most in baseball this year. In between this play they had been a .500 team but are slowly putting all the pieces together. The only question that remains is if this team will have the staying power and the starting pitchers to take down the Dodgers, Cardinals or Pirates. Come October keep your eye on this team and beware; this is not your fathers Atlanta Braves.