Braves first baseman Matt Olson amidst an all-time bad stretch
All-time bad isn't hyperbole either. He's currently struck out in five-straight plate appearances after a four-strike-out game last night in the 6-4 loss to the Rangers. He didn't record a hit in the series against Texas and in his last two series' he is 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts.
The good news is, the Braves still went 5-1 over that horrid stretch for Olson which speaks again to the depth of the Braves lineup and the ability for a player like Olson, who was in the NL MVP race a year ago, to struggle, but still not hurt the team all that much.
Right now, he is sitting at a .231 batting average with three home runs, 13 RBI, and a .798 OPS. Ironically, as bad as his start was perceived a season ago, his first 20 games of 2023 were better than his first 20 games of 2024, as at this point last year he was hitting .266 with six bombs and 20 RBI.
The #Braves have such a stacked lineup that few even notice Matt Olson is hitless in the past 4 games, 1-for-16 in the past 5, and homerless with 15 strikeouts and a .195 average in the past 11 games. Because ATL is 8-3 in that span and scored 5 or more runs in 9 of those games.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) April 21, 2024
I'm no hitting expert by any means, but it's always been a surprise that he's been as consistently elite at the plate as he has with his swing. It's a long, almost loopy swing that from my vantage point, seems like it has a lot holes for opposing pitchers to attack.
Every time I think that the pitchers have him figured out, he finds ways to heat up. He did it last year and he can do it again.
Last year, moving him from the two-hole to cleanup was the biggest catalyst. He's already in cleanup this season so it's not likely that Snitker will move him again. He'll have to figure it out from the four-hole this year and with Austin Riley hitting in front of you and the red-hot Ozuna behind, that's certainly an achievable task.