Matt Olson, the first baseman for the Braves, is going through one of his worst slumps of his career during a season that has swiftly become one he wants to forget. Rerunning his campaign in 2023 was always going to be a difficult task. He was coming off a season in which he led the league in RBIs with 139 and established a team record with 54 home runs. It’s been the exact reverse in 2024, and with a sample size large enough to raise questions about whether he has enough time to break out of his present slump this season, he might have won the NL MVP title and achieved career highs in a previous period.
In his last thirty games, Matt Olson’s batting abysmal.126 with a few home runs, good for a.395 OPS. Somehow, those figures seem worse over the past nine games, as he has only managed one hit in 33 at-bats, good for a.114 OPS. Incorporating that with dreadful defense, there is currently no player in baseball who is worse. Olson’s season hitting average is now perilously approaching the Mendoza Line. His OPS is currently below.700, and he is slugging under.400, down more than 200 runs from a year ago.
Matt Olson ranks 53rd out of 60 players that make more than $20 million this season in terms of fWAR, with a -0.1 season total—a long cry from the 6.6 fWAR he generated the previous season.
To put things even more in perspective, Olson is the 40th-ranked first baseman in baseball based on fWAR. This indicates that a number of reserves have actually outperformed a player who placed fourth in the race for NL MVP the previous season.
Everyone has been legitimately frustrated by Matt Olson’s unbelievably awful season, but none more so than Olson himself. Having said that, Braves manager Brian Snitker talked about Olson’s difficulties prior to Tuesday’s game and praised his first baseman for maintaining his composure in the face of adversity.
About Matt Olson, Brian Snitker said, “He comes in the same guy every day.” You see him and his approach when you converse with him. I find his handling of this to be really amazing. He is very skilled and intelligent. Twitter/picture/BYMUyUh7ZP
— July 23, 2024, Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO)
One thing about Brian Snitker is that he will always stick by his troops. That’s one of the main reasons why all of the Braves players hold him in such high regard.
The Braves don’t really have much of an option in this situation. Matt Olson was acquired by Alex Anthopoulos, who then signed a hefty contract with him that would keep him through the 2029 season and include a club option in 2030. He is currently, and likely will remain, Atlanta’s first baseman. The Braves can only hope that he snaps out of this slump as quickly as possible.
The good news is that Olson’s competence is undeniable. It has been evident throughout his whole career. The game of baseball is erratic, with highs and lows. Matt Olson is currently caught in a deep valley that he is probably unfamiliar with, but if he can emerge from it in time for the Braves heading into October, I guarantee that most fans won’t even recall how awful the remainder of the season was for Matt Olson.
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