Major League Baseball

2023 Atlanta Braves offense sets new standard with historic offensive numbers

Published Oct. 2, 2023 9:12 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

The 2023 Atlanta Braves have been an absolute bulldozer. They have been the best team in baseball for virtually the entire season, turning the National League East into a four-team wild-card Battle Royale. Throughout the season, they have jumped out to early leads, won by multiple runs and even pulled off a number of stunning comebacks, which helped them become the first team in baseball to 100 wins. 

In addition to all the praise and accolades that will likely follow for many Braves players, this team has had historic offensive production, and they showcased it in diverse ways all season. 

But if you take a step back and look at the overall numbers, just how good have they been, and where do they stand in the annals of the game? 

Here are some numbers that shed light on just how amazing this offense has been all year long:

.288 - Atlanta has done well against everyone, but against lefties they have done especially well, posting a .288 team batting average, the highest by an NL team since the 2008 Chicago Cubs posted that very same .288 average against lefties.

.501 - The power has been in full supply this year for the Braves with their team slugging percentage sitting at a whopping .501. If that number holds, they would be the first team in MLB history to have a team slugging percentage of .500 or better. To give you a reference, Jose Ramirez (.500), Luis Robert Jr. (.500) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (.490), Kyle Schwarber (.492) Manny Machado (.490) and Jose Abreu (.494) all have slugging percentages below the team slugging percentage of the Braves offense.

.600 - Starting with a boom has been key for the Braves. They have a team slugging percentage of .600 in the first inning of games this season, way above the record since 1974 (the 2019 Cincinnati Reds, .574) for the highest in the opening inning. How mind-boggling is that? Only three players in baseball have posted a higher slugging percentage all season! (Shohei Ohtani .654, Corey Seager .623 and Matt Olson .604)

.845 - Atlanta's offense has done a great job in all facets, but their .845 OPS as a team is next-level good. Consider that that OPS is higher than Jose Altuve (.834), Manny Machado (.829), Trea Turner (.832) and Kyle Schwarber (.831) have over their entire careers.

.911 - The Braves have crushed opposing starters this season, delivering a .911 team OPS against them. That is miles ahead of the second-best Los Angeles Dodgers (.799) and is the best since at least 1916. They are the only offense to put up an OPS over .900 against opposing starters since 1916. 

3 - With Marcell Ozuna's big game in the season finale, the Braves ended up with three players — Matt Olson (54), Ronald Acuna Jr. (41) and Ozuna (40) — totaling 40 or more dingers, making them just the fourth team in MLB history with three or more players with 40 homers.

4 - With four players reaching the 100 RBI plateau, the Braves tied a franchise record by having four players reach the century mark in RBIs in the same season (Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna). That tied the 2003 team that featured Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield doing the damage.

35 - Atlanta spread out their power surge with four different players hitting 35 or more dingers, the first time in MLB history that four players from the same team reached that number.

40/70 - Of course, it would be hard to talk about the Braves' offense without mentioning Ronald Acuna Jr., who delivered an unfathomable season. Acuna tallied the first-ever season of 40 or more homers and 70 or more steals. Heck, it was the first 40/50 season. For reference, no player who had 60 or more steals hit 40 or more home runs in any season in their career, let alone the same season they had 60 or more steals.

Have Shohei Ohtani & Braves' Ronald Acuña Jr. locked up the AL & NL MVPs?

50/50 - The Braves are just the fourth team in MLB history to have a player with 50 or more homers and a player with 50 or more steals in the same season. However, taking it a step further, they are also the first team in MLB history to have a player with 50 or more home runs in the same season another player on the team had 70 or more steals.

54 - Matt Olson delivered a season that made the Braves front office look genius for his acquisition. Olson slugged 54 homers, breaking the franchise's single-season record set by Andruw Jones (51) in 2005.

71 - No team in the MLB this season has more home runs with runners in scoring position than the Braves. They are just the fifth team, and second National League squad, since 1974 to have 70 or more home runs with runners in scoring position in a single season.

104 - The Braves have so far scored five or more runs in a major-league-leading 104 games, the most in a single season by a National League team since the 1930 Chicago Cubs, who also had 104 such games.

139 - Matt Olson was a one-man show this year for Atlanta, driving in 139 runs and setting the modern-era franchise record in the process. The previous record was held by Eddie Matthews, who had 135 in 1953.

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson leads Ben's Team of the Week

146 - The Braves' offense has been as powerful as any in the first inning of games, scoring 146 runs in the opening frame of the game this season. That is the second most in the first inning since 1974, trailing only the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals, who put up 147 runs.

151 - The power surge has been felt most at home. Atlanta has accumulated 151 homers at Truist Park, the most of any team in their home stadium this season and the most by a National League team at home since 1906. In fact, only the 2005 Texas Rangers, with 153 homers, had more in one season at home.

300 - With their 300th team home run, the Braves became the first time in MLB history to hit 300 homers and steal 100 bags in the same season.

307 - Mashing doesn't begin to describe it. Atlanta's offense has slugged 307 homers, tying the 2019 Minnesota Twins (307) for the most by an offense in a single season.

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Atlanta Braves

Major League Baseball

Ronald Acuña

Matt Olson

Marcell Ozuna

Ozzie Albies