One for the books: Braves hitters set many individual bests this season

Braves hitters rewrote the history books in Atlanta this season, but which players redefined their own careers in 2023?

Matt Olson etched himself into Atlanta Braves history with a franchise record 54 homers and 139 RBI; Ronald Acuña Jr. did the same with 73 stolen bases. But the Braves’ historic season was a result of the club cohesively rising to the occasion and putting together career seasons.

Yes, there were guys who stood out, but the Braves led the MLB in players with 40 or more homers (three), 30 or more homers (five) and 20 or more homers (seven) this season in route to tying the 2019 Twins for the most ever homers in a single season with 307.

There were team records set, but it is the result of a strong season from each individual. No one in the Braves starting lineup hit fewer than 17 homers this season, and no qualified Braves starter hit under .250 this season.

The Braves will have a lot of Silver Sluggers this year, but I think every hitter in the Braves lineup can walk away from this season satisfied with their individual performance. It’s hard not to when they set this many individual career highs.

Home Run Kings

With the Braves home run totals, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that five Braves set career highs in homers this year: Olson (54), Marcell Ozuna (40), Ozzie Albies (33), Sean Murphy (21) and Orlando Arcia (17).

Acuña also matched his career high of 41, and Austin Riley (37) and Michael Harris (18) both fell one shy of their bests.

The MLB home run king, Olson, blew his previous PB of 39 homers out of the water, while the others edged out their best toward the end of the season.

Ozuna hit three dingers in the last two games to surpass his previous best of 37. The Big Bear not only set his PB, but he reached 40 homers for the first time ever and hit 30 or more for only the second time in his 11-year career and first time since 2017 with the Marlins.

Albies eclipsed his previous record of 30 from 2021 by three, Sean Murphy hit 20 homers for the first time ever and, despite not hitting a homer since September 2, Arcia eclipsed his previous PB by two homers – his most since 2019.

MVP Candidates

Acuña and Olson have completely rewritten the history books in Atlanta and across the MLB, and I think it’s safe to say their strong careers leading up to 2023 just leveled up.

Why not say it again? MLB leaders in both categories and now Atlanta king of both, Olson slugged a career best 54 homers and 139 RBI.

You could basically go through every hitting stat and, yep – career best. While playing every single one of 162 games two years in a row, he notched his best in runs (127), hits (172), triples (three), extra-base hits (84), total bases (367), walks (104), batting average (.283) and OBP (.389). His slugging percentage and OPS are his best while playing a full season (.604 and .993). His 7.4 WAR is 1.6 higher than his next highest in 2021.

For Acuña, 159 games played are the most in a season, and he set a PB in runs (149), hits (217), doubles (35), RBI (106), walks (80), steals (73), batting average (.337), OPS (1.012), and his 8.1 WAR is 2.6 higher than his next best in 2019.

The right fielder also matched career highs in slugging percentage (.596), HRs (41) and struck out fewer times than any other 162-game season, while recording his most ABs in a single season in 2023 (643).

Both guys also recorded their highest exit velocities throughout the season and recorded the hardest-hit ball of their careers, according to Stat Cast. Acuña’s average exit velo was 94.7 MPH and his hardest-hit ball was 121.2 MPH – the hardest-hit ball in the MLB this season. Olson’s average exit velo was 93.7 MPH, and his hardest-hit ball was 118.6 MPH.

Bottom feeders?

Atlanta had questions at the bottom of the order coming into the year, but Arcia and Harris made the bottom of the order a strength for Atlanta all year.

Despite going through some sophomore slumps coming off his 2022 Rookie of the Year campaign, Harris still improved in quite a few areas in year two while playing 24 more games: runs (76), hits (148), doubles (33), walks (24), XBH (54) and total bases (241). He also tied last season’s total in stolen bases (20), and finished just .004 under last season’s .297 batting average and .008 under his .339 OBP.

Spending the year in the eighth hole, Arcia rose to the occasion to put up PBs in: runs (66), XBH (42), homers (17), doubles (25), RBI (65), slugging percentage (.420) and OPS (.741).

More All-Stars

All-Stars Murphy, Riley and Albies need some love, too. Murphy struggled after the All-Star break, but these guys quietly raked while their teammates took the spotlight.

Earning his first All-Star selection in his first year in Atlanta, Murphy set PBs in: homers (21), RBI (68), HBP (18, team high), batting average (.251), and his .365/.478/.844 line was the best in a full season in his career, as was his 3.9 WAR.

Riley fell three games shy of s perfect attendance in the lineup this season, but he set career highs in: runs (117), triples (three), total bases (328), walks (59), steals (three), while tying his career total with 179 hits.

Albies had a huge power surge this year, not only setting a PB with 33 HRs, but in RBI (109), HBP (eight) and slugging percentage (.513). Meanwhile, his 4.7 WAR is his best since his 4.8in 2019.

Reflecting

When three of your top four hitters set career highs in both runs and RBIs, you’re going to score a lot of runs. Harris increased his hit and XBH-hit rate at the bottom of the order, and the rest of the guys filled in. There was truly nowhere for pitchers to turn to get outs against Atlanta this season.

The two starters mentioned the least above, Eddie Rosario and Ozuna, have served 10 and 11 seasons in the MLB, respectively. Notching a career high in their illustrious careers, not to mention in the back half of them, would be extraordinary – which is why Ozuna’s 40 homers is incredible. There’s also the fact that he only had two HRs and five hits at the end of April.

It’s the contributions of all these guys that helped Atlanta lead all of baseball this year in batting average (.276), homers (307), RBI (916) and hits (1,543). Even the guys who didn’t break franchise records rose to the occasion.

Check out Braves Today on Socials!
Follow Braves Today on Twitter!
Like Braves Today on Facebook!
Check out the homepage for more Atlanta Braves News!
Subscribe to Braves Today on YouTube!
Get Exclusive Braves Merchandise from FOCO