The Braves return to Boston as the no home run wonders:
At 4-16, Atlanta has baseball’s worst record. The Braves opened the season with nine straight losses, and an 11-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox left them with a new seven-game skid. They’ve won only one of 13 home games and begin a two-game series at Boston on Wednesday night.
The losses are tough enough. The lack of power makes it difficult to believe a solution will be found soon.
The Braves haven’t hit a home run since April 10 and have only three for the season – fewer than 58 players in the majors. The drought is the franchise’s longest span since a 16-game streak in September 1946 when the Braves were based in Boston.
The team can’t hit for power, period. The highest slugging percentage on the team belongs to Nick Markakis, .397, thanks to nine doubles. Teams are simply pitching around Freddie Freeman, who has a .203 BA and a .329 OBP. His one home run helped him to a .275 slugging percentage. The team slugging percentage of .280 is 81 points below the 14th place Padres. They are last in doubles and have not hit a triple. If this keeps up, the 1962 Mets may be supplanted as the worst team of my lifetime.
Watching them play the Red Sox the last two nights, it really was amazing to see the lack of power. Between them, Porcello and Price were giving up almost 2 HR per 9 innings before they faced the Braves. Maybe tonight they’ll get one over the monster against the knuckleball.