It’s not an Opinion. The Braves do not have a Better Infield than the Astros.

Gordon Liang

10/28/2021

The Atlanta Braves hadn’t had a World Series team in a while. The last time the Braves made the World Series, advanced metrics had never been heard of. So naturally, now that the Braves are back in the Midsummer Classic, Atlanta fans have come out of their place of hibernation and are still trying to adjust to the new age of baseball we’re in. In the age of casual stats like batting average and errors, it’s easy to look at the Braves and say that they have the best infield in baseball. Their starting infield combined for 35 errors during the regular season. They have names like Dansby Swanson who went viral for an insane play years ago. They boast the top three national league hitters in RBI’s (Austin Riley, Frederick Freeman and Ozzie Albies in that order).

But even if you look at simple statistics, the Astros make a better case. Their starting infield combined for 33 errors this season, just short of the Braves’ 35. That said, errors are a flawed statistic for two main reasons in this case: errors punish you for trying (if one simply ran away from every grounder, they’d have no errors) and the Astros are known for giving their players scheduled off days while the Braves don’t buy into that concept.

Looking into the advanced statistics, the Astros objectively have a better infield. Going off wRC+, Riley is the only Brave with a decisive lead over their Astro counterpart in offense. Going off Outs Above Average (OAA), the Astros were one of the top defensive infields in baseball this year while the Braves weren’t as flashy with their gloves.

Yulieski Gurriel vs Frederick Freeman

Gurriel had himself a season this year and even though he won the American League batting title, he fell short of putting up a better season than Freeman. Freeman started his year very slowly but still managed to squeeze himself into an All-Star roster spot. After the All-Star Game, Freeman had himself a second half. He finished the season with a 135 wRC+, just one point above Gurriel’s. The defense is less close. Freeman finished with four OAA whereas Gurriel finished with negative- one OAA.

Advantage: Atlanta Braves (by a small margin)

Jose Altuve vs. Ozzie Albies

This one, as with the other middle infielder comparison, is less close. Altuve and Albies have their similarities. Both are small second basmen who swing aggressively and will ambush you if you underestimate them for their size.

“If I’m doing good I wanna swing. If I’m doing bad I wanna swing because it might be the only pitch I get. It’s not a secret that I like swinging. I think I’ll be like that all my career,” Altuve said following a game two win in the World Series where he hit his fourth first-pitch homerun of the postseason.

The similarities end there though. Altuve was clearly the better second baseman all season. With all the talk behind Albies, you would assume that his wRC+ was higher than 107, but it is not. You would also assume that his wRC+ was close to Altuve’s, but it also was not. Altuve had himself a bounceback season after a tough 2020 campaign and posted a solid 130 wRC+. Altuve was objectively a better hitter and a better fielder as he accumulated five OAA where Albies only had one. Altuve was the obvious better player and it wasn’t even a discussion.

Advantage: Houston Astros

Carlos Correa vs Dansby Swanson

Like with Altuve-Albies, the Correa-Swanson debate isn’t a long one. Spoiler alert: Correa is easily the better shortstop. He posted a very impressive 134 wRC+ while Swanson posted a sub-average 98 wRC+. One might then turn to defense and argue that Swanson’s defense puts him above Correa. Except, Swanson’s defense is below Correa’s. Significantly below.

Swanson’s made some flashy plays this season and the Vanderbilt-graduate has certainly shown that the scouts had at least one thing right: Swanson plays defense. Correa hadn’t been known for his defense until last year. In fact, his 2016 season remains today as one of the worst defensive season since OAA was introduced.

Correa has come a long way since then and after falling short of a Gold Glove last year, he looks to be in the mix again this year (although Nicky Lopez seems to be a lock). Correa put up 12 OAA in 2021 which absolutely trumps Swanson’s three OAA. Like with hitting, Swanson’s defense isn’t in the same stratosphere as Correa’s

Advantage: Houston Astros

Alex Bregman vs. Austin Riley

Again, this comparison isn’t even close but this time it’s the Braves with a clear-cut favorite. Riley put together an absolutely incredible 2021 season and most impressively, he did it all while only taking one day off. Bregman can’t say the same. Bregman started this season playing very gingerly as he has a history of muscle injuries in the leg area and dealt with hamstring discomfort during Spring Training. As he progressed back, it seemed like his injuries were finally past him when suddenly he strained his groin muscle trying to beat out a double play against the Rangers. It took him a while to get back in but even in the time he was playing he never got back to his 2019 form. Riley on the other hand was barreling everything everyday. His wRC+ stands at 135 while Bregman’s sits at 115. The only concern for Riley is his defense as he had a far subpar negative-six OAA and Bregman in short time remained on average in defense. Bregman was definitely the weak link in the stacked Houston infield this year while Riley was the strong link in Atlanta’s solid-but-not-elite infield.

Advantage: Atlanta Braves