There are two winless teams still left in Major League Baseball after one week. One is the Minnesota Twins, who nearly snuck in to the playoffs in 2015 and have lost five or their six games this year (all on the road) by one or two runs. The other is the Atlanta Braves, who have been a trainwreck in nearly every facet of the game.
The Braves have the worst run differential in baseball at -21, despite playing just five games so far this year. The Angels and Rockies, 2-4 and 3-3 respectively, follow the Braves with run differentials of -18 and -16. And unlike most bad teams, who do *something* well in spite of their struggles, the Braves don’t do anything well.
- Their 58 wRC+ is the second-worst mark in baseball, ahead of just the Mets
- Their .265 wOBA is the third-worst mark in baseball, ahead of just the Mets and Angels
- Only the Cardinals and Athletics have more than the Braves’ six errors, and only the Cardinals have a worse fielding percentage
- To discuss some more advanced defensive statistics, Atlanta’s -11 DRS is the worst mark in baseball
- The Braves’ bullpen ERA is 8.66, better than just the Rockies
- Their rotation ERA is 5.40, good for baseball’s 21st-best mark
- Overall, the team has a 6.65 ERA, 5.54 FIP, and 5.38 xFIP, ranking third-worst, sixth-worst, and worst in baseball
We’re looking at a team that — through just five games, mind you — can’t hit, can’t field, and can’t pitch in either the rotation or bullpen. It’s not a good start to the season for the Braves, to say the least. The team blew leads in four of their five games so far, most embarrassingly jumping out to a 4-0 lead against the Cardinals on Friday and allowing seven runs over the game’s final six innings.
Chipper Jones is not happy about the #Braves start. pic.twitter.com/0z8mUgePF7
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) April 11, 2016
But will it get better? Of course — it has to, right? Atlanta’s best reliever through the season’s first week was rookie Daniel Winkler, who broke his elbow in gruesome fashion on Sunday, more than likely ending his season. Their best starter has been veteran Bud Norris, who allowed three runs in seven innings on Wednesday and had a 6.72 ERA working primarily out of the bullpen with the Orioles and Padres last season.
There’s some hope on offense, where third baseman Adonis Garcia (turning 31 tomorrow) has walked as much in five games this year as he did in 58 last year, while also smashing one of the Braves’ three homers. Right fielder Nick Markakis, who showed a depressing lack of power in 2015, equaled his April 2015 doubles output on Sunday alone. Giving backup catcher Tyler Flowers more playing time over the rotting shell of A.J. Pierzynski (1-for-12 this year) will at least slightly improve the offense. Freddie Freeman (currently batting .125 in 21 plate appearances) isn’t this bad of a hitter.
But that’s only half of the offense. Ender Inciarte is out for at least the next two weeks with a strained hamstring and will presumably be replaced in the lineup on an everyday basis by either prospect Mallex Smith or veteran Drew Stubbs, who has been an above-average hitter once in the past five seasons. Erick Aybar can’t hit or can’t field. Hector Olivera has been kind of a disaster. Jace Peterson is getting regularly subbed out at second base for Gordon Beckham, who hasn’t been a passable major leaguer since 2013.
The Braves won’t go 0-162. That’s just preposterous. They also likely won’t challenge the 120-loss futility of the 1962 Mets or the 119-loss struggles of the 2003 Tigers. But 90 losses seems like a guarantee, and I could see this Braves team struggling to win 60 games when all is said and done. They might not be as awful as those Mets and Tigers teams, but the 2011-13 Houston Astros? Yeah, that could be a realistic prediction for this team.
Fire up the tank, Braves fans. This season is going to be a long one.
