The 2014 Major League baseball season

[Duvall]

I agree that the Braves have had the Nats' number -- not only this year (9-4), but also last season (13-6).

But you are wrong about Freeman and BJ Upton. Neither is particularly effective against the Nats this year. Freeman has an overall .861 OPS ... he's .827 against the Nats. That's a good number, but less than his normal production (and certainly not Aaron like). BJ Upton has as terrible .607 OPS overall .. is even worse -- .493 -- against the Nats.

That got me interested and I checked the rest of the Braves' regulars. Juston Upton is also less productive against the Nats (.880 overall; .718 against the Nats) and Jason Heywood (.746 overall) is positively putrid against Washington (.508 ... with a .146 BA).

Three hitters are better against the Nats: Evan Gattis goes from .839 overall t0 .911; Andrelton Simmons goes from .636 to .727; Chris Johnson goes from .672 to .727.

So why do the Braves dominate the Nats?

I looked at pitching and found that most Atlanta pitchers improve their ERA against the Nats. Harang goes from 3.64 to 1.38; Wood from 2.92 to 1.86; Minor from 4.70 to 2.57 (although that's just in seven innings of work vs. Washington). On the other hand, Teheran does drop from 2.90 to 3.15 and Santana goes from 3.53 to 5.25.

I guess the point is that none of the Braves play like supermen against the Nats (with the possible exception of Gattis). It's hard to finger WHY Atlanta has been so dominate the series.

It's entirely a statistical fluke due to a small sample size, aside from the possibility that Strasburg may have a mental block about pitching in Atlanta.

[wilson]

Start the clock on the Cobb County Curse...

And as if on cue, http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=340901115.

[YmoBeThere]

And as if on cue, http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=340901115.

Well, they did get walked 5 times.

[devildeac]

And as if on cue, http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=340901115.

What a miserable offense. Granted it's a small sample size but the last 3 games have produced 20 hits and one run for the Braves. Pathetic.

[wilson]

What a miserable offense. Granted it's a small sample size but the last 3 games have produced 20 hits and one run for the Braves. Pathetic.

My blood pressure thanks me.

[Blue in the Face]

But you are wrong about Freeman and BJ Upton. Neither is particularly effective against the Nats this year. Freeman has an overall .861 OPS ... he's .827 against the Nats.

Uh, you misread that. .827 is Freeman's slugging against the Nats. His ops against them is 1.360 (albeit in 60 plate appearances).

[Duvall]

Well, they did get walked 5 times.

And Jason Heyward stole three bases, which is pretty impressive, considering.

[JBDuke]

I agree that the Braves have had the Nats' number -- not only this year (9-4), but also last season (13-6).

But you are wrong about Freeman and BJ Upton. Neither is particularly effective against the Nats this year. Freeman has an overall .861 OPS ... he's .827 against the Nats. That's a good number, but less than his normal production (and certainly not Aaron like). BJ Upton has as terrible .607 OPS overall .. is even worse -- .493 -- against the Nats.

That got me interested and I checked the rest of the Braves' regulars. Juston Upton is also less productive against the Nats (.880 overall; .718 against the Nats) and Jason Heywood (.746 overall) is positively putrid against Washington (.508 ... with a .146 BA).

Three hitters are better against the Nats: Evan Gattis goes from .839 overall t0 .911; Andrelton Simmons goes from .636 to .727; Chris Johnson goes from .672 to .727.

So why do the Braves dominate the Nats?

I looked at pitching and found that most Atlanta pitchers improve their ERA against the Nats. Harang goes from 3.64 to 1.38; Wood from 2.92 to 1.86; Minor from 4.70 to 2.57 (although that's just in seven innings of work vs. Washington). On the other hand, Teheran does drop from 2.90 to 3.15 and Santana goes from 3.53 to 5.25.

I guess the point is that none of the Braves play like supermen against the Nats (with the possible exception of Gattis). It's hard to finger WHY Atlanta has been so dominant in the the series.

I think the Nats are in pretty good shape. Yes, the Braves could close the gap with a 6-0 or 5-1 head-to-head record, but that's an awfully thin reed to hang your hopes on. I think the wild card is a much more viable option.

Uh, you misread that. .827 is Freeman's slugging against the Nats. His ops against them is 1.360 (albeit in 60 plate appearances).

I think Blue in the Face has you here, Oly. According to ESPN, at least, Freeman is batting .481, with an OPS of 1.360 versus the Nats this year. That's nuts. But you're right about BJ Upton - he's even worse that "normal" versus the Nats. It just seemed like he had some timely hits in the last series. BTW, Justin Upton is batting .359 with a 1.208 OPS vs the Nats this year. Ugh.

[Olympic Fan]

Uh, you misread that. .827 is Freeman's slugging against the Nats. His ops against them is 1.360 (albeit in 60 plate appearances).

I apologize ... I did misread that stat line.

I stand by everything else in the post, but Freeman has indeed been Aaron-like ... even Ruth-like ... against the Nats this season.

Just an aside, he didn't look nearly as formidable against the Phils today. The Braves lost another game on the Nats when they were no-hit at home by four Phillies pitchers.

They are still in position to compete for the second wild card, but the division title is an extreme long-shot.

[weezie]

So... I guess Verlander's sports hernia repair was more successful than originally presumed. Best twitter comment: anybody thinking that Verlander's derriere pictures were ugly must not have seen his ERA this season.
Siiigggghhh....

[Duvall]

They are still in position to compete for the second wild card, but the division title is an extreme long-shot.

Looks like the second wild card will be an extreme long-shot. Not sure there's a phrase for what the division title is at this point.

[Olympic Fan]

Looks like the second wild card will be an extreme long-shot. Not sure there's a phrase for what the division title is at this point.

I'm not sure of your definition of "extreme" but as of this moment (4:31 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3), Atlanta is exactly one game out of the first wild card (also one game out of the second wild card):

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings/_/type/wild-card

That comes after scoring one run over 36 innings Saturday through Tuesday.

We know the Braves have been just about the streakiest team in baseball (for good or bad) ... one good hit streak and the Braves are in, Admittedly another bad one could be curtains. But with the way the Brewers are fading, the wild card could be opening up.

[Duvall]

I'm not sure of your definition of "extreme" but as of this moment (4:31 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3), Atlanta is exactly one game out of the first wild card (also one game out of the second wild card):

http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings/_/type/wild-card

That comes after scoring one run over 36 innings Saturday through Tuesday.

We know the Braves have been just about the streakiest team in baseball (for good or bad) ... one good hit streak and the Braves are in, Admittedly another bad one could be curtains. But with the way the Brewers are fading, the wild card could be opening up.

Yeah, I missed the Brewers' implosion. I stand corrected, Atlanta could back into the Coinflip Classic after all.

[Olympic Fan]

Going into today's games (Sept. 5) -- Atlanta and Milwaukee are tied for the second NL wild card at 73-67 -- 1 1/2 games ahead of the Bucs.

With 22 games left, time to do some scoreboard watching. Interestingly, the Braves and Brewers don't meet again.

Atlanta has a long road trip coming up -- 3 games at Miami this weekend, followed by 3 at Washington and 3 at Texas. If they are still in good shape at that point, the schedule breaks in their favor with 10 straight home games -- 3 with Washington; 3 with the Mets; 4 with the Pirates (games that could have wild card implications). Atlanta finishes with three games in Philly.

[YmoBeThere]

The Rangers are now the second team to undergo a manager change as Ron Washington resigned to take care of personal matters. He led the team to the World Series in 2010 and 2011 And a Wild Card spot in 2012. He did test positive for cocaine in 2009.

[Olympic Fan]

Braves and Brewers both go 1-1 over the last two days. Still dead even with 20 games to go. The Pirates made up a half a game and now trail the Braves/Brewers by 1/2 game for the second wild card.

[YmoBeThere]

I do not like the Giants.

[weezie]

I do not like the Giants.

Yes, Ymo, they've had the Tiger number for quite a while.
But it's the mess in that Tiger locker room that may be to blame. Verlander's photo escapades can't be sitting all that well with some of the more mature, quieter and less, hhhmmm... "exhibitionist" individuals on the team. It must rock the boat when your former Cy-MVP winner shows all the intelligence of a 15 year old boy.

Scherzer looks very much like the bag is packed and in the trunk. Price just looks blankly confused. Porcello must have taken the All-Star snub to heart and started the sulking again.
I can't blame Ausmus, not just yet, though. Who is the REAL captain of the team?

I'm afraid they are done-zo.

[DukieInKansas]

I can barely remember the last time the Royal's were in the mix in September. Mr. Kauffman is surely smiling down on the Truman Sports Complex. Wish he had smiled on the chefs today.

[YmoBeThere]

Oh, I'm okay if they beat the Tigers! Hahahaha, I kid, I kid. My main focus is that they don't catch up to the Dodgers. I like seeing the teams from the middle of the country do well(except for the Big Ten). The exception to that rule is the Dodgers and to a lesser extent the Red Sox. I blame the former on my grandfather and the latter on having lived in the Boston area not once but twice during my lifetime.

For my other team, the Reds, they are out of it and given payroll issues, may be out of it for quite some time. They gave too much money to Joey Votto, he will handicap the franchise for years unless he can stay healthy.