Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson has been one of baseball's best in 2023. He is putting up a historic season in just his second year with the club.
During last night's loss to the Phillies, Olson launched his 49th and 50th homers to put him within one of the franchise record for home runs in a single season. Andruw Jones achieved the feat of 51 home runs back in 2005.
50th on the season and his second homer tonight! pic.twitter.com/PoARKIHMFF
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 12, 2023
A cool anecdote is that Olson and Jones both hit their 50th homers at Citizens Bank Park in the month of September for their respective seasons.
His 50th home run also set a bit of history for the Braves franchise. They are now just the 4th team in the history of Major League Baseball to have a player with 50 home runs (Olson) and another player with 50+ stolen bases (Acuna Jr.) in a single season. The last team to accomplish this was the 2017 Miami Marlins.
The Braves are the 4th team in MLB history with a 50-HR hitter and another player with 50+ stolen bases in a single season. The others:
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 12, 2023
2017 Marlins (Stanton & Strange-Gordon)
2000 Cubs (Sosa & Young Sr.)
1995 Cleveland (Belle & Lofton) pic.twitter.com/sHbEVbYSPH
Matt has been on an absolute tear and has boosted his batting average up to .279 on the year with 50 home runs and 127 RBI. He has already broken the record for most RBI by a Braves first baseman but is also just 6 RBI away from breaking the franchise record of 132 RBI in a single season.
He currently leads all of Major League Baseball in home runs and runs batted in. He is 3rd in slugging percentage with a .614 mark, 4th in OPS (1.000), and 10th in OBP (.386). His wRC+ is at a ridiculous 161 and his OPS+ sits at 162 as well. Matt's WAR sits at 5.8 and is the 6th best in all of baseball.
Olson has earned his second NL Player of the Week honor this season as he earned Co-Player of the Week back in August. He shared that award with Michael Lorenzen who threw a no-hitter that week after being traded to Philly. Olson, coincidentally, just hit his 49th and 50th home runs off of Lorenzen on Monday night.
This time he did not have to share it as he was awarded for his performance during the week of September 4th through September 10th.
Your NL Player of the Week: @mattolson21! pic.twitter.com/ko7ngoxllZ
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 11, 2023
He batted .545 with a 1.766 OPS and 4 home runs over the week and was good for an incredible 355 wRC+. He's on one of those stretches of hitting where he just isn't missing anything. As mentioned above, his WAR is at 5.8 and that is a career-best for Olson whose previous best WAR was 5.0 in 2021.
It's safe to say he's been one of the best decisions Alex Anthopoulos has made as Braves GM. Olson has 18 games to hit 2 more home runs and 6 more RBI to set those franchise records for home runs and RBI in a single season.
He will undoubtedly reach those milestones but the better question is when he will do so, not if. Olson and the Braves are on the cusp of winning their 6th straight NL East Division Title. Their magic number sits at 4 games and two more wins over the Phillies will secure that for them.