Acuña or No Acuña, Braves Wasting Good Pitching As of Late

No matter what goes right, something else goes wrong for the Atlanta Braves. Ronald Acuña Jr. is back in the lineup. Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson are looking more like their old selves as of late. Despite that, the offense still isn't clicking.

The pitching hasn't been perfect. They continue to have frustrating moments. That being said, to put their blame on equal footing at this point would be a diservice.

MLB.com's Mark Bowman pulled up an alarming stat. The Braves have had the fourth-best ERA in MLB going back to May 4 (2.85). Only the Twins (2.70), Cardinals (2.82) and Rangers (2.84) have been, narrowly, better. However, they are only 11-10 during that span.

Sorry to break it to some, but the pitching has been getting its job done.

In that span, the Braves scored 85 runs for an average of 4.04 runs per game. On the surface, it doesn't seem so bad. However, it's a bit inflated. Remove the four games they scored six or more runs, and that average drops to 3.05. They scored three runs or fewer in that span nine times with a 2-7 record in those games. They're also 4-7 in one-run ballgames in May alone.

Three of those games have happened since Acuña returned less than a week ago. His solo home run on the first pitch he saw prevented the Braves from being shut out twice in four games. He's reached base twice in three of those games. In the end, he's just one of nine in the lineup.

It's hard to get going when nobody is in sync. Austin Riley has had a mediocre run since May 4 (.250 average, .680 OPS). Alex Verdugo has a .606 OPS during this strong run by the pitching staff. Michael Harris hasn't been able to get going for more than a few games this season. Going back to May 4, he's had a .228 average and .596 OPS.

Perhaps things will ultimately lineup. As we have been reminded recently, it's a long seaosn. However, eventually, it comes back to bite you if it takes too long.

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