What used to be MLB’s most pull-happy and powerful team is now missing their slugging ways.
Earlier this week, we took a look at how the Atlanta Braves have drastically changed their offensive approach in 2025. The basic summary is that, while they used to be the most aggressive team in baseball, they are no longer aggressive at all, even when presented with favorable pitches (like middle-middle fastballs) or when they find themselves in favorable counts (0-0 or ahead in the count).
Today, we’ll take a look at another change in their approach, which could be related to the first change – the Braves are no longer a pull-happy team.
It’s funny how our eyes can deceive us. I had tickets to Wednesday’s game vs. the Angels. The Uber driver who took me to the Battery was a 74 year old man who got pretty excited to see me in a Braves jersey (my Sean Murphy city connect, by the way – a good selection on a night that saw him crush a go-ahead three-run homer). He started talking baseball, and it was clear that he watches the games. He named many of the players on the current team and was completely bewildered by the idea of Bryce Elder continuing to make starts for the big league club, stating plainly that he thought Elder would be better suited throwing to Acuña in the Home Run Derby instead.
Anyways, this man eventually started griping about how Brian Snitker doesn’t teach the offense any strategy. He claimed that the team’s biggest issue is that they had a great, magical year in 2023 that gave them a false sense of confidence, and now everyone on the team “swings for the fences on every pitch.” He bemoaned the lack of bunting and even claimed that Austin Riley ought to be able to lay down a bunt when the situation presents itself.
Now, when it comes to baseball, I’m an insufferable nerd. I had already started research on this very article (thanks for reading by the way), so I knew that this man’s claims were, in fact, the exact opposite of what is actually happening to the Braves offense in 2025. But, since this man who seemed very convicted of his opinions had my life in his hands, I chose not to reveal my insufferable nerdom by correcting him.
If he’s an avid Battery Power reader like real Braves fans, though, he’s about to find out just how wrong he is.
As a hitter with any raw power whatsoever, pulling the ball in the air is the best thing you can do. Since the start of 2022, the league is hitting .595 with a 1.332 SLG on pulled fly balls and line drives. Compare that to a .368 average and .609 SLG on fly balls and line drives to straightaway or the opposite field, and a .327 average / .537 SLG on all balls in play. It’s extremely advantageous to pull the ball in the air.
The Braves of yesteryear were the very best at this. From 2022-2024, they had the highest Pull% in the league. On fly balls and line drives, they had the 2nd highest Pull%. When they did pull the ball in the air, they led the league in Hard-Hit%.
In 2025? Entering play Thursday, they rank 14th in Pull% overall, and 15th in Pull% when they hit the ball in the air. When they do pull the ball in the air, they rank 11th in Hard-Hit%.
Take a look at the changes for the 8 big league veteran hitters on the Braves roster:
Sean Murphy and Ronald Acuña Jr. are both on very good HR paces, but the rest of the team is behind their typical pace, and there’s an explanation for each one. Austin Riley, on pace for just 23 HR? Well, his Pull% is up when he hits the ball in the air, but his Hard-Hit% on pulled fly balls and line drives is way, way down. Same story with Michael Harris II, Alex Verdugo, and especially Ozzie Albies. Ozuna and Olson are pulling the ball in the air less frequently than we’re used to seeing.
I am of the opinion that the team-wide changes in their approach when it comes to swing decisions is directly tied to these team-wide changes in batted ball data. Because they’re not being aggressive in favorable counts, they’re not getting off their best swings, which is reflected in the fact that most of the team has seen their average bat speed drop this year. Because they aren’t getting off their best swings, they’re not pulling the ball in the air with authority as frequently as they used to.
The longer that this nightmare of a season continues to unfold, the more it seems that firing Kevin Seitzer and directing an organizational change in offensive approach may have been a serious overreaction to what ultimately amounts to a 10 game sample size of postseason failure over the course of three separate seasons. I don’t think the Braves approach was the issue in the 2022-2024 postseasons – I think they simply didn’t execute a strategy that had worked well for them in the regular seasons. That can happen in small sample sizes.
If the Braves want to become relevant again in 2025, they will either need to reverse course and revert to their old, highly aggressive, swing-for-the-fences approach, or they’ll need to vastly improve the way in which they are executing the more patient strategy.