ATLANTA – It doesn’t necessarily matter when a team gets rolling. The Braves racked up 101 wins in 2022 despite lying dormant for the first two months of the season. They won the World Series ’21 despite not having a winning record prior to August.
This year’s team got off to a good start, stumbling in the final weeks of May and now finding themselves in early June for the second year running. The timing of this current heat wave is random.
What matters most to the Braves is that for the first time this year they feel like they’re going full steam ahead. Yes, they still lack their ace, Max Fried. But there was a lot to like during a winning streak that extended to seven with a 6-4 win over the Nationals on Saturday afternoon at Truist Park.
“It takes about 40 games for things to settle down,” said manager Brian Snitker. “By this time of year you should have a pretty good idea of who you are.”
The Braves are who we thought they were, even though Fried and Kyle Wright have only gone 44 2/3 innings together this year. With the backing of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s MVP bid, the rejuvenation of Marcell Ozuna, and a suddenly reliable bullpen, they remain strong contenders for the World Series.
Each of these elements played a crucial role in this recent win. Acuña and Ozuna both hit home runs in a second set against MacKenzie Gore. As Jared Shuster began to falter in the sixth game, the bullpen limited the Nationals to a four-inning run.
As a result, the Braves are 7-1 this month and have a 4 1/2 game lead in the National League East race. They’re in better shape than last year, when they were still four games behind the Mets despite 14 straight wins in early June.
The one constant this season has been Acuña, who hit two doubles around his home run in the second inning. The Braves right fielder ranks second among qualified NL players with a .975 OPS. His 13 homers and 28 stolen bases put him on track to create the first 30 homers and 60 stolen bases season in AL/NL history.
“I would say that I played my best baseball in my big league career,” Acuña said.
Jesse Chavez could say the same, especially after contributing to his winning season with two perfect innings on Saturday. Chavez came in in the sixth set with two ons and no outs, eliminating the runs from Shuster. The 39-year-old reliever has a 1.55 ERA over 29 innings.
“I told Charlie [Morton]”I don’t know which of you 39-year-olds amazes me the most,” Snitker said.
The biggest difference for the Braves over the past week has been the reliability of the bullpen, or at least the resurgence of AJ Minter and Joe Jiménez, who can now confidently return to high-leverage spots.
Jiménez underwent back surgery in the offseason and he just never seemed to do well, posting a 4.42 ERA in 20 appearances through the end of May. But since taking a week off, the right-hander has gone three innings scoreless and clean and recorded four strikeouts in two appearances.
After Jiménez kept the Nationals scoreless in the eighth game, Minter allowed a home run on Stone Garrett early in the ninth game. But he pulled back the next three batters to make the save. The left-hander started this game after being goalless six times in a row. He had posted a 10.93 ERA in his 15 appearances prior to this successful stretch.
“Sometimes it takes a while to get out the gates to get going,” Chavez said.
That would certainly apply to Ozuna, who was .085 by the end of April with two homers and a .397 OPS over 67 plate appearances. But he’s since hit .313 with 11 home runs and a 1.021 OPS. That brand ranks second among MLB players with at least 120 plate appearances during that time span.
“Having a bat like [Ozuna’s] in the middle of the lineup is really good,” said Snitker. “Then it’s really crazy what Ronald is doing.”