Rock bottom for the Atlanta Braves offense

The Atlanta Braves have, officially, hit rock bottom with regard to fielding a Major League offense.

Over the last four games, the team has scored exactly one run, and miraculously, it came in a 1-0 victory by which Alex Wood‘s dominance allowed for the offensive ineptitude to be masked. During that stretch, the team has posted a slash line of .187/.259/.228 for a .487 OPS, the Braves have 40 strikeouts against just 9 walks, and the entire group has produced just three extra-base hits. In addition, the team (of course) suffered the fate of a combined no-hitter against Cole Hamels and company, further driving the point home.

Is it time to panic? No.

Well, maybe.

The Braves are still sitting with 36.4% playoff odds according to Baseball Prospectus, but that can largely be attributed to the muck in the middle of the race for the the second Wild Card spot. Offensively, the Braves have now been shutout 12 times this season (four times in the last ten games), and on the morning of September 3rd, Atlanta is 29th out of 30 Major League teams in runs scored with just 514 on the season.

Without taking a deep dive, there are several reasons for the offensive futility, from lineup construction, to B.J. Upton‘s continued to collapse, to “down” years from Andrelton Simmons and Chris Johnson (among others), but one thing is for certain.

The Atlanta Braves can’t score right now.