Atlanta Braves: Why Spring Training Stats are a Fun House Mirror

Spring Training is finally winding to its end for the Atlanta Braves and with it the endless breakdown of Spring Training stats.  Meaningless stats that continue to confirm biases that already exist.

The Atlanta Braves are finally nearing the end of Spring Training and with it the notion that Spring stats mean anything.  As spring nears its end many fans seem to focus in on breaking down these stats to confirm opinions they already have formed.

Forget the old adage “stats don’t lie” because in spring training they certainly do. They are a funhouse mirror of numbers that have little if any meaning.

Yet this doesn’t stop Braves fans from overreacting to Spring stats. Whether it is using a spring outing to confirm Sean Newcomb’s control issues or Julio Teheran’s inability to get outs in the first.

Yet a slow starting veteran is shaky only because it is Spring Training which means said player’s stats mean nothing. It is odd reasoning that is a baseball fan’s paradise, stats that can be meaningless at their convenience or an indication of their predictions at others.

So to help aid the confusion let me explain this clearly, Spring Training stats are completely and utterly meaningless.  For the Atlanta Braves or any other team, outside of what type of shape the player is in, there is very little to take away.

Spring Training is just that… Training to get players back in baseball shape and ready for the season. A fact combined with rustiness and meaningless games points to the fact that for the Braves and the rest of baseball it is time to stop looking at Spring stats.

In fact, shortening Spring Training altogether and shifting focus to the regular season earlier in the year would benefit baseball. A sport that must find a way to adapt.