The Atlanta Braves Have The Deepest Lineup I've Ever Seen

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The Atlanta Braves aren't just a really good offensive team. They are historically great. They already have 263 home runs (which is 23 more than the 1961 Yankees). They are on pace to have 311 home runs as a team. The all-time record is 307 by the 2019 Minnesota Twins. But what is equally impressive is how stacked that lineup is. Not only are there no easy outs, there are only hard ones. That's not even counting having a catcher like Travis d'Arnaud on the bench. He'd start for most teams!

Here's the lineup that I believe will be the Braves playoff lineup for most games in October.

Check out these numbers (through 137 games):

RF Ronald Acuna (.332/.413/.573, 32 HR, 63 SB, 123 Runs)

2B Ozzie Albies (.271/.328/.508, 29 HR, 91 RBI)

3B Austin Riley (.275/.334/.505, 33 HR, 84 RBI)

1B Matt Olsen (.266/.373/.584, 45 HR, 114 RBI)

DH Marcell Ozuna (.269/.343/.543, 33 HR, 73 RBI)

LF Eddie Rosario (.256/.314/.473, 20 HR, 65 RBI)

C Sean Murphy (.268/.376/.512, 20 HR, 67 RBI)

SS Orlando Arcia (.281/.336/.454, 17 HR, 56 RBI)

CF Michael Harris II (.295/.338/.464, 13 HR, 20 SB, 61 Runs)

All of this got me thinking. Where does this stack with the deepest lineups I've ever seen? Here are some of the best lineups of the past 40 years:

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1995 Cleveland Indians

CF Kenny Lofton (.310/.362/.453, 7 HR, 54 SB)

SS Omar Vizquel (.266/.333/.351, 6 HR, 29 SB)

2B Carlos Baerga (.314/.355/.452, 15 HR, 90 RBI)

LF Albert Belle (.317/.401/.690, 50 HR, 126 RBI)

DH Eddie Murray (.323/.375/.516, 21 HR, 82 RBI)

3B Jim Thome (.314/.438/.558, 25 HR, 73 RBI)

RF Manny Ramirez (.308/.402/.558, 31 HR, 107 RBI)

1B Paul Sorrento (.235/.336/.511, 25 HR, 79 RBI)

C Sandy Alomar, Jr. (.300/.332/.478, 10 HR, 35 RBI)

The most impressive thing about this lineup is the 1995 season was only 144 games…The Braves led the league in AVG, OBP, SLG, runs and home runs…Despite this amazing season, Albert Belle didn't win AL MVP. Mo Vaughn beat him out…The 1995 Indians swept the Red Sox in the ALDS and then defeated the Seattle Mariners in 6 games. They would eventually lose the World Series to the Braves in six games. Tom Glavine shut down this great offense in Game 6 giving up only a single hit…

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1996 Baltimore Orioles

CF Brady Anderson (.297/.396/.637, 50 HR, 110 RBI)

3B Todd Zeile (.263/.348/.436, 25 HR, 99 RBI)

2B Roberto Alomar (.328/.411/.527, 22 HR, 94 RBI)

1B Rafael Palmeiro (.289/.381/.546, 39 HR, 142 RBI)

RF Bobby Bonilla (.287/.363/.491, 28 HR, 116 RBI)

SS Cal Ripken, Jr. (.278/.341/.466, 26 HR, 102 RBI)

DH Eddie Murray (.260/.327/.417, 22 HR, 79 RBI)

LF B.J. Surhoff (.292/.352/.482, 21 HR, 82 RBI)

C Chris Hoiles (.258/.356/.474, 25 HR, 73 RBI)

Sadly, this team is probably most famous for the Jeffrey Meier incident…The other thing they are most known for is Brady Anderson's monster 50 home run season…Todd Zeile and Eddie Murray were both acquired in mid-season trades but I did show their full season numbers…Every single person in this lineup had over 20 home runs that season…They did beat the Indians in the ALDS but lost to the Yankees and Meier in 6 games in the ALCS…

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2009 New York Yankees

SS Derek Jeter (.334/.406/.465, 18 HR, 107 Runs)

LF Johnny Damon (.282/.365/.489, 24 HR, 107 Runs)

1B Mark Teixeira (.292/.383/.565, 39 HR, 122 RBI)

3B Alex Rodriguez (.286/.402/.532, 30 HR, 100 RBI)

DH Hideki Matsui (.274/.367/.509, 28 HR, 90 RBI)

C Jorge Posada (.285/.363/.522, 22 HR, 81 RBI)

2B Robinson Cano (.320/.352/.520, 25 HR, 85 RBI)

RF Nick Swisher (.249/.371/.498, 29 HR, 82 RBI)

CF Milky Cabrera (.274/.336/.416, 13 HR, 68 RBI)

This is without question, the best lineup I've seen win a World Series…They won 103 games and led the AL in OBP, SLG, home runs and runs…This was an older lineup than most (30.8 average age)…They swept the Twins (of course) in the ALDS and beat the Angels in 6 games in the ALCS…They beat the Phillies in the World Series in 6 games against a very strong pitching staff and averaging over 5 runs a game…

I think the Braves stack up really well against these other lineups. I also think they have an easier path to at least get to the World Series than these other teams had. The Dodgers pitching staff is in total disarray and the Phillies are the team with the best chance of knocking the Braves out. I am pulling for them to beat the 2019 Twins to hold the crown of the most home runs by any team. As a Mets fan, I don't like the Braves but you have to respect what they are doing this season.