Welcome to SB Nation FanPulse, a survey of fans across MLB. Each week, we send 30 polls to plugged in fans from each team. Braves fans, sign up HERE to join FanPulse.
Despite a rash of injuries to several key players, the Atlanta Braves continue to roll on. The Braves got off to a rather lackluster start in August but have put together a solid stretch with a great homestand that included series wins over the Mets and Dodgers along with a three-game sweep of the Marlins. Atlanta has pushed its lead in the NL East back to six games over the Washington Nationals and nine games over the New York Mets whom they will face next starting on Friday.
As a result, confidence in the Braves and manager Brian Snitker rebounded significantly this week according to our FanPulse voters. Snitker’s approval rating jumped five percent to land at 85% for the week. That is the highest it has been in the last three weeks and marks the 15th consecutive week that it has been at 80% or above.
Additionally, confidence in the direction of the franchise rebounded significantly this week jumping 10% to 95%. Confidence in the direction of the team has been at least 90% or more for 11 of the last 12 weeks.
This week’s national question once again centered on the baseball and the offensive explosion we have seen around the game. A large portion, 74% of FanPulse voters, said that they think a juiced baseball is bad for the game. I am not sure that I agree completely. While I think Major League Baseball should be a bit more forthcoming in what changes to the baseball have been made, I think that offense leads to a more appealing game. Granted the pendulum may have swung too far but I’d rather see what we have right now over a low run scoring environment.
That is it for this week, let us know what you think in the comments below. There is just over five weeks remaining in the season which means there is still plenty of time for you to get on board with our FanPulse voting. Just go to this link to get signed up and you can be a part of next week’s voting.