2003 Atlanta Braves Graphs Review
Following are graphs and commentary regarding the 2003 season of the Atlanta Braves. Questions or comments can be sent to me at dave@baseballgraphs.com.
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The National League East Race The Braves dominated this race from start to finish, outside of a small run by the Phillies in early July. Of all the division races, there was probably the least doubt associated with this one, despite the fact that the wild card team came from this league. The Braves beat their Pythagorean projection (wins based on runs scored and allowed) by about four wins. The curious thing about this is that they actually had a bad record in one-run games (17-25), which is usually a function of luck. What happened was that they were 21-7 in two-run games and 17-4 in three-run games. That is wacky. |
| Move your mouse over this graph to view the status of each team at the season's midpoint (July 1st). | ||||
Fielding Independent Pitching is based on the following formula: (13*HR+3*BB-2*K)/IP. Defense Efficiency Ratio is (Non-catcher putouts/Batted Balls in Play), adjusted for ballpark. Circle sizes in this graph are proportional to the percent of fieldable balls successfully converted into outs by the fielders. |
The Braves' Pitching and Fielding
The Braves' pitching, as measured by FIP, was about average. But their team DER was decidedly above average and their fielding was among the best in the league. Atlanta had a ground ball staff (a GB/FB ratio of 1.50, third highest in the league) and their good fielding is presumably due to their infield. Giles led the league in Zone Rating at second and he was third in 2b fielding Win Shares, but Furcal doesn't rate highly at shortstop. So this one is hard to figure. Anyone have an opinion about Andruw Jones? His Zone Rating was close to the bottom, but he led all league outfielders in fielding Win Shares. My own guess is that his Win Share ranking is more indicative of his true worth. How to Read this Graph |
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The Braves Day-by-Day
The Braves were simply awesome through the middle of July, and then they seemed to coast for the rest of the season. May was an incredible month for the offense but July was even better (a TEAM OBP of .378 for the month). Another note: the Braves' runs allowed were consistently better than average except for the month of July. Early on, it was the defense/DER that kept the opposition under control, while June and September were strong pitching months. July was the only month in which the Braves didn't deliver a strong FIP or DER. |
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Atlanta Braves' Win SharesPlayer Team Pos Hit Field Pitch Sum WS -------- ---- ---- ----- ----- ----- ----- --- G Sheffield ATL OF 31.55 2.95 0.00 34.51 35 J Lopez ATL C 24.38 5.35 0.00 29.73 30 M Giles ATL 2B 21.13 6.61 0.00 27.74 28 C Jones ATL OF 23.61 2.06 0.00 25.67 26 R Furcal ATL SS 20.23 4.91 0.00 25.14 25 A Jones ATL OF 16.76 6.04 0.00 22.80 23 J Smoltz ATL P 0.00 0.00 16.08 16.08 16 R Ortiz ATL P 1.50 0.00 14.49 15.99 16 V Castilla ATL 3B 10.43 3.30 0.00 13.72 14 R Fick ATL 1B 12.78 0.85 0.00 13.64 14 M Hampton ATL P 0.00 0.00 11.47 11.47 11 G Maddux ATL P 0.00 0.00 10.83 10.83 11 H Ramirez ATL P 0.00 0.00 9.15 9.15 9 J Franco ATL 1B 5.68 0.40 0.00 6.08 6 M DeRosa ATL 2B 2.92 2.17 0.00 5.08 5 R King ATL P 0.00 0.00 4.49 4.49 5 K Gryboski ATL P 0.00 0.00 3.41 3.41 3 W Cunnane ATL P 0.00 0.00 3.29 3.29 3 S Reynolds ATL P 0.00 0.00 3.03 3.03 3 J Bong ATL P 0.00 0.00 2.67 2.67 3 R Hernandez ATL P 0.00 0.00 2.54 2.54 3 T Hodges ATL P 0.00 0.00 2.28 2.28 2 H Blanco ATL C 0.57 1.67 0.00 2.24 2 K Mercker ATL P 0.00 0.00 2.22 2.22 2 D Holmes ATL P 0.00 0.00 2.03 2.03 2 D Bragg ATL OF 0.54 0.79 0.00 1.33 1 J Wright ATL P 0.00 0.00 1.30 1.30 1 M Franco ATL 1B 1.09 0.11 0.00 1.20 1 M Hessman ATL OF 1.11 0.06 0.00 1.17 1 J Garcia ATL 2B 0.76 0.13 0.00 0.88 1 J Marquis ATL P 0.23 0.00 0.57 0.81 1 J Estrada ATL C 0.00 0.27 0.00 0.27 0 R Langerhans ATL OF 0.00 0.22 0.00 0.22 0 J Dawley ATL P 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 |
The Braves' Individual Players
In a lot of years, Gary Sheffield would have had a chance for MVP, but he ran into Bonds and Pujols this year. Similarly, John Smoltz would have stood out as the best reliever in the league, were it not for Eric Gagne and a week on the disabled list. In fact, virtually all of the Atlanta players were near the top of their position Win Share ranks. Lopez was first at C, Giles was first at 2b, Furcal tied for first at short, and Sheffield, Jones and Jones were among the top nine outfielders.
You can view all National League Win Shares data via the following links: |
