Once again, the Atlanta Braves are beginning yet another season besieged by injuries. If there's a silver lining, this time around, they'll be getting all of their horses back by the summer, and some even sooner. The key will be staying afloat in the highly competitive NL East until they're back at full strength.
That was the biggest stumbling block last year. The horrid start to the 2025 season sank Atlanta before it could even hope for any injury return boosts. If the club is to avoid history repeating itself, it's going to need all of the healthy cornerstone players getting the job done. And that puts Matt Olson front and center.
(Editor's note: This was written and scheduled before Olson went off against Arizona on 4/3/26. Yes, we know he was good. No, it does not change the central thesis here.)
Braves will be out of the race if Matt Olson gets off to another slow start
Unfortunately, for as good as Olson is, he's at times been a slow starter. His career .804 OPS in the season's first month isn't all that bad; it's still his worst month-by-month performance overall. Second to that is his .826 mark in May. Simply put, as the weather heats up, so too does Olson.
2025 was an even worse showing for Olson. Again, not terrible, but his .767 OPS in March and April was simply average when the Braves needed more. If he's going to wait until June to get up to the peak of his powers, the division race may have already gotten out of hand.
The good news is, Olson has been an ironman, playing every game over the last four seasons. Walt Weiss might not let him reach that plateau for a fifth-straight year, and if he gives him a couple of days off in the early going, it could help propel him to a monster start.
So far, we're not seeing what we need to see from the 32-year-old first baseman. Through six games, Olson is slashing .261/.292/.348 with no homers and an eye-watering 37.5% strikeout rate. That's not going to cut it.
Olson is the team's X-factor in 2026. He's always been a well-above-average player, but the years when he's truly been an impact difference maker, it's been when he's gotten off to hot starts. Look no further than his 54-homer campaign in 2023 for the evidence. That year, he posted a .932 OPS over the season's first month.
With the majority of the long-term injuries coming on the pitching side, Atlanta is going to need to win slugfests in the early going quite often. To do that, they need their power bats rising to the top. They need Olson to turn it on. Now. If not, things will spiral out of the Braves' control yet again.