Major League Baseball

Matt Olson is filling one Braves legend's shoes and pushing another for MVP — his way

Published Aug. 16, 2023 8:00 a.m. ET

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Deesha Thosar

MLB Writer

Matt Olson leads all of baseball in home runs and RBIs, he has the second-best OPS, and he's on pace to swat roughly 60 home runs. And he's not the best player on his own team.

For so much of this season, it looked like Ronald Acuña Jr. was going to run away with the National League MVP award. But in the past two months, Olson has posed a greater challenge to his Braves teammate than any opposing club has been able to this season. 

While making this leap took longer than he envisioned, the veteran first baseman has forced himself into the MVP conversation — ironically at the same time as the franchise cornerstone he replaced. But don't count Olson among those surprised by his superstar turn.

"I think everybody expects greatness from themselves," Olson told FOX Sports. "If you don't, it's probably not going to happen to start with." 

Olson, Acuña and Dodgers duo Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts represent the four-horse MVP race heading into the final six weeks of the regular season. Freeman and Betts, perennial contenders, are vying for their second such honors. Acuña, a two-time Silver Slugger, and Olson, a two-time All-Star, are both trying to lock down the award for the first time in their respective careers. And the latter is quietly threatening to break franchise records, as well, with an emphasis on quietly.

"He's a psychotic worker," Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said of Olson.

The 29-year-old slugger enters Wednesday standing alone for the major-league lead in home runs (43) and RBIs (117). Remarkably, he's passed Shohei Ohtani in homers by crushing seven of them in 15 games this month, and 11 in his past 19 games. While Olson's white-hot stretch in itself is impressive, his final output could rewrite Braves history. 

With 43 games remaining, Olson is just nine homers shy of breaking Andruw Jones' single-season franchise record of 51. Olson's power surge thus far is unprecedented for an organization that featured the likes of Chipper Jones, Eddie Mathews and Henry Aaron for most of their Hall of Fame careers. At his current pace, Olson would be the first Brave to lead MLB in homers and RBIs in the same season since Aaron in 1957, only Aaron did it with Milwaukee. 

Olson has been so good of late, he couldn't be denied co-Player of the Week honors despite Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen throwing a no-hitter in his first home start with his new club. Sharing acclaim perfectly suits Olson, anyway.

"Being that boring pro is really healthy in this game," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Olson. "It allows you to play a six-month season and ride the wave all the time. You gotta stay consistent with what you do and your preparation and your games. That's what makes him really good at turning the page."

Olson's magical 2023 didn't actually start out as such. The Braves were encouraged by the first baseman's productive spring training, only to watch him struggle in the beginning of the season. His swing and miss rate was up. He was striking out too much. His typically sweet left-handed swing was out of whack. He'd look good in the cage and in batting practice, but that wouldn't translate to games. "Everything" the Braves tried to do, per Seitzer, wasn't working. 

It wasn't until mid-June that Olson's mechanical adjustments started manifesting. He improved from an .830 OPS and 35.5% strikeout rate in his first 68 games to a 1.252 OPS and 20.8% strikeout rate over the next 50. Seitzer couldn't put his finger on a specific day or game in which things began to click. Neither could Olson. The longtime hitting coach just knew that when the strikeouts diminished and the home runs sprouted, it was time to walk away and let Olson shine.

"You address things when guys need to be addressed," Seitzer said. "And when they get in a special place, you get out of the way. You say, ‘Good morning, good afternoon, and high five. Waitta go. See you tomorrow.'"

While his numbers are already doing the talking, Olson's "boring pro" persona makes him the ideal candidate to stay in the MVP race until the very end. When he speaks, his voice is low, bordering on shy. His responses are measured and thoughtful, if a little dry. He's a grinder, but he's private about his work in that head-down concentration, just-another-day-at-the-office sort of way. Unlike Acuña, there's nothing bombastic or striking about the way Olson operates on and off the diamond.

That he's largely known as the Braves' other MVP candidate couldn't be more fitting.

"He doesn't have the flash of Ronald," Snitker said of Olson. "But you know what, I'd make sure I'm in my seat when he's up because he might do something special, too."

"They're just two unique players," third baseman Austin Riley told FOX Sports. "Ronnie's got the flash, and then Olson just kind of goes about his business." 

It's Olson preference to stay out of the spotlight, but it's also what he's been used to after spending 10 years in Oakland's system. The Athletics selected the Atlanta native in the first round of the 2012 draft out of high school. Olson debuted for the A's in 2016 and demolished 24 home runs in 59 games as a rookie the next year. The 6-foot-5 first baseman immediately lived up to his profile of a top power-hitting prospect, albeit with fewer pom poms and attention on a last-place squad.

The environment in which Olson was used to performing — little buzz, slight fanfare, dimmer lights — changed overnight in March 2022, when he was traded to the Braves and signed an eight-year, $168 million contract a day later. The reserved Olson was instantly thrown into a national media frenzy, his acquisition marking the end of Freeman's legendary 12-year run with the Braves, who were just a few months removed from winning the World Series. An emotional Freeman signed with the Dodgers four days after Olson was acquired, a move Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos called "the hardest decision and transaction I've had to make." 

"Obviously with Freddie leaving, big shoes to fill," Riley said. "And to me, [Olson's] done a great job over there. I think this year he's really been able to find his footing and play his game. I feel like last year he put a little pressure on himself. And this year he's just going out there and trusting his ability and trusting his work."

The 2022 season was a challenge for all involved in Atlanta. Anthopoulos' decision to part with the club's longtime leader took a mental and emotional toll on the team before it had even begun its bid to repeat. Meanwhile, Acuña was working his way back from a torn ACL and never quite found his form. For Olson, the comparisons to Freeman were constant. Never mind that he was still trying to adjust to life as a Brave. Things that were familiar for years became foreign, like staying in new places on the road, figuring out where the batting cages were, and getting to know new teammates and a new coaching staff. Although the clubhouse welcomed Olson from day one, he admits that he felt unsettled and out of place at times. It took him an entire season to get comfortable and break out of his shell. 

This year, Olson said he feels more entrenched with the team and in the city that he grew up calling home.

"Coming back home has a lot more to it than people think," Snitker said. "There's a lot more pressure in that. He was balancing a lot of balls in the air last year and I think he did an unbelievable job."

His work in 2023 has him in line to make history for baseball's best team, and none of that seems to be phasing him. Try bringing up the MVP discussion, and Olson is the first to heap praise on his more celebrated teammate. Acuña, for his part, hasn't slowed down. The electric Venezuelan outfielder recently became the fifth player ever to amass 25 home runs and 55 stolen bases in the same season, and the first since Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson did it in 1990. He is, undoubtedly, one of the best players of this generation.

In a more subdued way, Olson is showing the potential to join Acuña's company. Just don't ask Olson about it.

"I've never been big on it — getting any sort of attention," he said. "It is what it is. We're out here playing to win. I think personal stuff falls behind that."

If Olson keeps this up, Atlanta winning it all could follow his personal feats. 

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar. 

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Deesha Thosar