The Braves are enjoying their time off amid the All-Star break, outside of those in Dallas for the festivities.
Alex Anthopoulos and the front office are currently working on the MLB Draft and then will turn their focus to the trade deadline afterward. It’s the perfect time to recap the first half of the season.
Chase has already given the club a first-half grade, but I’m going to highlight the single biggest disappointment on the team. Many fans will look at Orlando Arcia, who has been one of, if not, the worst players in all of baseball; however, that’s not who I’m thinking of.
When talking about disappointments, you have to consider expectations. If you thought Arcia was going to replicate the season he had last year, that’s squarely on you. Unlike Arcia, the expectations for Matt Olson entering his third season were fairly high, and he’s underperformed tremendously.
After a good but not great first year in Atlanta, Olson burst onto the scene in 2023. He finished fourth in the MVP voting, behind Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuna Jr. Olson led the National League in slugging (.604) thanks to a franchise-record 54 home runs, which led all of baseball. Olson also led the MLB in runs batted in with 139.
He finished with career-bests in batting average (.283), on-base percentage (.389), slugging (.604), OPS (.993), home runs (54), and RBIs (139) since becoming a full-time starter. It was the type of season that made Braves fans realize maybe Alex Anthopoulos was right to let Freddie Freeman walk in free agency.
Following the best season of his career, he’s off to a dreadful start in 2024. He only has 13 home runs, 44 RBIs, and a .714 OPS. He’s striking out more, walking less, and he can’t seem to stop this skid. Matt Olson is hitting .229 with 109 strikeouts compared to just 36 walks while he struck out 167 times and walked 104 times last year.
A Braves offense that has been plagued by injuries and individual struggles, Matt Olson is a key piece in turning this lineup around. Among the eight All-Stars the Braves sent to Seattle last year, six have spent time on the injured list.
Austin Riley is heating up and back to looking like the MVP candidate that fans have become used to, but Olson has yet to really find a consistent groove. The hope is the All-Streak will help Atlanta’s first baseman reset because they have no hope of chasing down the Phillies in the division without their best power hitter.
We know Matt Olson is capable of more. That’s why he is the biggest disappointment of the first half of the Braves season.
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Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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