Atlanta Braves Slugger Matt Olson named National League Co-Player of the Week
Matt Olson continues to be one of the hottest hitters in baseball and the league is taking notice.
By Steven Teal
The Atlanta Braves continue to rack up records and award honors in 2023. Matt Olson added another accolade to that list as he was named Co-Player of the Week for the time period of August 7th to August 13th. He shares the honors with Phillies starter Michael Lorenzen who threw a no-hitter during the week in his first start for Philadelphia.
Olson has absolutely been raking as of late and it's nice to see him recognized. He collected a slash line of .400/.539/.833 and a 1.372 OPS through 8 games.
Congrats, Matt!@mattolson21 | #ForTheA pic.twitter.com/j8xgYFkHqi
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 14, 2023
The Georgia native scored 10 runs, gathered 12 hits including 4 home runs, and drove in 10 runs. Olson walked 9 times during the week and struck out just five times as he continues to lower his strikeout percentage. This coincides with him drawing walks more often.
In the month of August, Matt has a walk percentage of 22.6% and has only struck out 12.9% of the time as well. Compare that to July when his walk percentage was just 13.3% and he struck out 21.4% of the time.
Overall, Matt is doing much better in that department overall since the second half started. Before the All-Star Break, his walk percentage was at 13.5% and a 27.0% strikeout percentage. As for the second half so far? Olson has an even split between both statistics with an 18.3% walk and strikeout rate.
Even looking at his batting average between the two halves is absolutely impressive. Matt batted .254 through 89 games with 87 hits including 17 doubles, 2 triples, 29 homers, 72 RBI, 54 BB, and 108 K in the first half. Since the All-Star break, his batting average sits at a whopping .340 through 28 games. That includes 34 hits with 4 doubles, 14 homers, 35 RBI, 23 BB, and 23 K.
It's safe to say he has found his stroke and doesn't show any signs of slowing down. He is already on pace to break the Atlanta Braves home run record and is on pace to break the single-season RBI record by a Braves first baseman. His pace currently sits at 60 home runs and 148 RBI.
The franchise record for most RBI in a single season by a Braves first baseman is 121, which is shared by Freddie Freeman and Andres Galarraga. Olson is on pace for 148 RBI which puts him on track to break that record and the overall RBI record of 145 set in 1894 by Hugh Duffy.
— House That Hank Built (@HouseHankBuilt) August 14, 2023
This will be an absolutely exciting finish to the regular season as we see what else Matt has in store for us.