The Baseball Scholar

Atlanta Braves Best Single Seasons

Dave Franks
1–2 minutes

These are the greatest individual seasons in Atlanta Braves history, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

  • Javy Lopez – 2003

    Javy Lopez Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.8 170 129 495 457 89 150 29 3 43 109 33 90 0 1 .328 .378 .687 1.065

    • First Base

  • Hank Aaron – 1971HOF

    Hank Aaron Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    7.2 191 139 573 495 95 162 22 3 47 118 71 58 1 1 .327 .410 .669 1.079

    • Second Base

  • Rogers Hornsby – 1928HOF

    Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.9 193 140 619 486 99 188 42 7 21 94 107 41 5 .387 .498 .632 1.130

    • Third Base

  • Darrell Evans – 1973

    Darrell Evans Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.0 158 161 733 595 114 167 25 8 41 104 124 104 6 3 .281 .403 .556 .959

    • Shortstop

  • Denis Menke – 1964

    Denis Menke Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    6.7 136 151 588 505 79 143 29 5 20 65 68 77 4 2 .283 .368 .479 .847

    • Outfield

  • Hank Aaron – 1959HOF

    Hank Aaron Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.7 175 154 693 629 116 223 46 7 39 123 51 54 8 0 .355 .401 .636 1.037

    • Outfield

  • Hank Aaron – 1963HOF

    Hank Aaron Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    9.1 178 161 714 631 121 201 29 4 44 130 78 94 31 5 .319 .391 .586 .977

    • Outfield

  • Ronald Acuna Jr. – 2023MVP

    Ronald Acuna Jr. Hitting Stats
    WAR wRC+ G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
    8.4 171 159 735 643 149 217 35 4 41 106 80 84 73 14 .337 .416 .596 1.012

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Greg Maddux – 1995HOFCy Young

    Greg Maddux Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.7 39 28 28 19 2 1.63 209.2 10 3 0 39 38 23 181 23.1% 0.81

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Greg Maddux – 1994HOFCy Young

    Greg Maddux Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.5 37 25 25 16 6 1.56 202 10 3 0 44 35 31 156 20.2% 0.90

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Warren Spahn – 1947HOF

    Warren Spahn Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    9.5 58 40 35 21 10 2.33 289.2 22 7 3 87 75 84 123 10.5% 1.14

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Warren Spahn – 1953HOF

    Warren Spahn Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    8.8 53 35 32 23 7 2.10 265.2 24 5 3 75 62 70 148 14.0% 1.06

    • Starting Pitcher

  • Greg Maddux – 1997HOF

    Greg Maddux Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    7.8 53 33 33 19 4 2.20 232.2 5 2 0 58 57 20 177 19.8% 0.95

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Eric O’Flaherty – 2011

    Eric O’Flaherty Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.3 26 78 0 2 4 0.98 73.2 0 0 0 9 8 21 67 22.3% 1.09

    • Relief Pitcher

  • Craig Kimbrel – 2012

    Craig Kimbrel Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.2 26 63 0 3 1 1.01 62.2 0 0 42 7 7 14 116 50.2% 0.65

    • Relief Pitcher

  • John Smoltz – 2003HOF

    John Smoltz Pitching Stats
    WAR ERA- G GS W L ERA IP CG ShO SV R ER BB SO K% WHIP
    3.2 26 62 0 0 2 1.12 64.1 0 0 45 9 8 8 73 29.9% 0.87

    • Honorable Mention

  • Catcher – Joe Torre, 1966
  • First Base – Matt Olson, 2023
  • Second Base – Marcus Giles, 2003
  • Third Base – Chipper Jones, 2008
  • Shortstop – Jeff Blauser, 1993
  • Outfield – Lonnie Smith, 1989
  • Outfield – Hank Aaron, 1962
  • Outfield – Hank Aaron, 1969
  • Starting Pitcher – Phil Niekro, 1978
  • Starting Pitcher – Tom Glavine, 1991
  • Starting Pitcher – Phil Niekro, 1974
  • Starting Pitcher – Greg Maddux, 1998
  • Starting Pitcher – Johnny Sain, 1948
  • Relief Pitcher – Chris Hammond, 2002
  • Relief Pitcher – Kris Medlen, 2012

    • All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.

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