Hello, I Love You

It's always easiest to be a fan during win-streaks, especially when those win streaks include two sweeps (one over the best team in baseball) and a +35 run differential.  It goes without saying that this version of the Braves' offense is the one everyone has been waiting to see.  During the seven-game surge, the Braves have been walking more (8.3%), striking out less (18.8%), and not just hitting for power (.172 ISO) but hitting anything, everything, everywhere (.397 BABIP).

The Braves' K% dropped nearly another two percent from June to July, going from 21.7% to 19.8%, marking the fourth-consecutive month the rate has declined.  After finishing April with a rate of ~25%, and being well on their way to setting records at that pace, the Braves' aggregate number has fallen to 22.3%.  That's an improvement of nearly 10%.  Let's look at the month-over-month numbers:

K%:

March/April-25.1%
May-23.3%
June-21.7%
July-19.8%
Season-22.3%

Changes in other peripherals act as further evidence of the evolution of this offense.  They're relying less on homers, but the power hasn't fallen off the map.  The BB% has fallen, but the OBP has been steady despite the change.  They're driving the ball more and making more contact on balls in and out of the zone.  Part of this is likely attributable to regression from the extreme "three true outcomes"-type of statistical picture painted by this team so far, but the signal leading this noise is a tangible change in the type of offensive output many thought this team capable of.

The Braves are not a team of slow, lumbering sluggers that strikeout a dozen times per game as many national pundits would have you believe.  Taking the stats from May and June and assuming April was an anomaly is a fool's errand; statistical sample sizes can't be isolated in a vacuum.  Looking at the trends over the course of the season shows clearly that the offensive identity of this team is changing.  They're still marginally inclined to the "three true outcomes" of power, walks, and strikeouts, but they're not restricted to them, and their ability is not defined by them. 

With four months in the books, the Braves' offense has put up two months of wRC+ performance of ~101, or marginally better than league-average, and two months of ~110, or considerably better than league-average.  Their season-average wRC+ is 107, a well above-average mark that stands tied for first in the NL with the powerful Cardinals.  This is a team capable of sustaining that type of output without fear of extreme regression or caveats due to luck.  Considering this offense has yet to operate at full capacity, there's reason to be optimistic about their future performance. 

(Stats via FanGraphs)