Lessons learned from the Braves’ victory over the Angels in series Atlanta concluded a three-city road trip with a 6-4 record after winning two of three in Anaheim.
The Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Angels in series play on Sunday to cap off a three-city road trip, but it may have cost them another important player due to an injury. In the first inning of Sunday’s 3-1 victory in Anaheim, Austin Riley was hit in the hand or wrist region and had to leave the game. Following the team’s return to Atlanta, Riley will undergo more testing, according to Brian Snitker, who informed reporters that the findings were not definitive.
Aside from that tragic circumstance, Sunday was a successful day for the Braves with losses for the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Padres, and Mets. After playing them seven times in their next 13 games, Atlanta suddenly trails Philadelphia by 7.0 games in the NL East standings. In the Wild Card battle, the Braves are now 2.0 games ahead of the New York Mets, 2.5 games behind the Diamondbacks, and 3.5 games behind the Padres. uncommon series opposing the Angels Since the start of Interleague Play in 1997, the Braves have a 13-11 record versus the Angels. At Angel Stadium, their all-time record is 6-6. The Kansas City Royals are the only team Atlanta has faced fewer times.
Marcell Ozuna Triple Crown chase
Marcell Ozuna had two more hits in Sunday’s game and was 8-for-10 with a homer in the three games against the Angels. Ozuna now leads the National League in batting average at .309 and RBI with 93. He is second behind Shohei Ohtani with 36 home runs.
The last player to win the Triple Crown was the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera back in 2012. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner in the National League since Joe Medwick in 1937.
Chris Sale Cy Young watch
Chris Sale was charged with two runs and struck out 10 over six innings in Saturday’s 11-3 win over the Angels, further strengthening his Cy Young credentials. Sale’s entire body of work is impressive. He leads all starters with 5.2 fWAR. He also leads the NL in ERA (2.62), FIP (2.06), xFIP (2.47), strikeout percentage (33.6 percent) and strikeouts (187). If you are into old school stats, he is tied for the major league lead with 14 wins.
It is hard to imagine where the Braves might be without Sale. Not enough has been said about the offseason trade that brought him over from Boston. Despite being one of the best pitchers in the American League during the early part of his career, Sale has never won a Cy Young Award. He may take home the prize in his first season in the National League.
Statcast numbers
If Riley is seriously injured, he would just be the latest key player for the Braves to go down for a substantial period of time. While injuries are something that every team has to deal with, perhaps the most frustrating part of the 2024 season for Atlanta has been their offensive underperformance.
To further illustrate their bad luck, Atlanta entered Sunday leading the majors in average exit velocity (90.2 mph) and lead the National League in hard hit percentage (42.9%) and barrels (309). After last season, that is about where you would expect this offense to be. However, the Braves are just 16th in runs scored in 2024.
A big part of that is that Atlanta is batting just .677 on barreled balls which is the fifth-lowest hit rate in baseball. For context, league average for barrels is .713 and Boston leads the majors with a .775 mark. Entering play Sunday, the Braves had made 104 outs on balls that were barreled.
