[Sport] Braves’ deep lineup gives them early edge over Mets in NL East race

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NEW YORK — The rain stopped, the clouds cleared and the Atlanta Braves offered their division rival a ruthless reminder of how beneficial it can be to have a surplus of power in the starting lineup.

 

No, the pop didn’t come from Travis d’Arnaud, who has troubled the Mets plenty since they released him in 2019. Nor were they punished this time by Austin Riley and his .918 career OPS against New York. The Amazins have had a whole cast of Atlanta hitters give them migraines over the years, and a new Met killer emerged in their first series of the season against the Braves.  

 

It was Sean Murphy who crushed a pair of three-run home runs for Atlanta in Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader at Citi Field, helping the Braves to a 9-8 win. After the weekend’s slate of matchups were postponed by April showers, Murphy provided battery mate Spencer Strider a three-run lead before he even threw his first pitch. The star catcher's first home run of the day, on a flat Denyi Reyes slider that Murphy was able to stay in front of, was also his first career long ball against the Mets. His performance on Monday suggested there will be plenty more of those.

 

Murphy’s aggressive approach at the plate fits in perfectly with the rest of Atlanta’s dangerous hitters. The former A’s backstop might also be thriving because of the protection around him, something he simply didn’t have with his previous team. Murphy was traded by Oakland in December, and acquiring him was perhaps the splashiest move the Braves made this offseason. 

 

Coming from a 60-win squad in 2022, Murphy has settled in as Atlanta’s cleanup hitter. His six-RBI output Monday afternoon emphasizes his 180 OPS+ start to the season. After adding two more hits in the back half of the doubleheader, he leads all qualified catchers in nearly every major statistical category, including home runs (8), extra-base hits (15), runs (19), RBIs (22), on-base percentage (.413) and slugging (.647). It’s clear that playing for the contending Braves has been a shot in the arm for Murphy. His eighth home run of the season didn’t come until June 19 last year. He’s punishing mistakes at a higher clip than ever.

 

"He’s a strong man, I’ll tell you that," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Murphy. "He’s a threat every time he goes up there. He’s a pro. He prepares. He studies. He’s really into the game with the pitching staff. And the thing is, he wants to post every day, too." 

 

Murphy’s first-inning homer was just a sneak peek of how many Braves can change the game with one swing. 

 

Ronald Acuña Jr. obliterated a baseball to the third deck in the second inning, a 448-foot solo shot that was one of the longest home-run balls ever hit at Citi Field. Kevin Pillar, from the nine-hole, cranked a two-run homer to left off Reyes in the second inning. Add in Murphy’s second three-run dinger of the day, another big mash to left field on a Jeff Brigham hanging slider, and the Braves collected four home runs in the first part of the doubleheader. 

 

Those four Atlanta homers proved to be the difference when the Mets scratched and clawed in a comeback attempt that fell short in the afternoon. The long ball also allowed Strider to get away with a subpar outing (four earned runs allowed on five hits across five innings) that wasn’t up to his usual standards. 

 

Atlanta’s 44 home runs and .448 slugging percentage both rank among the top three teams in MLB. The Mets rank 21st and 18th, respectively. That power could be the difference come September in what should be a tight race for the NL East crown. 

 

[https://www.foxsports.com/stories/mlb/braves-deep-lineup-gives-them-early-edge-over-mets-in-nl-east-race]