Braves First Baseman Matt Olson Out of Time, Must Start Hitting

The Atlanta Braves can't afford first baseman Matt Olson not contributing on a significant basis any longer.

Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Even the best baseball players go through slumps. Sometimes, an All-Star can have a disappointing first half or a "down year." After all, there's a reason why the latter is a popular phrase.

But for a team to be successful despite a "down year" from a preseason MVP candidate, the rest of the roster has to be healthy and contributing.

That's not the case for the Atlanta Braves in 2024.

The Braves opened the second half of the season with a series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, who are another National League wild card contender. But even worse, the Braves lost starter Max Fried and second baseman Ozzie Albies to injuries before and during the series finale.

The Braves announced after Sunday's loss that Albies suffered a left wrist fracture. He will be fortunate to be back two weeks before the regular season finale.

Atlanta also lost Fried to left forearm neutiris. The Braves seem more optimistic Fried will return shortly, but he will miss at least a few starts.

The Braves are already missing outfielders Ronald Acuña and Michael Harris II to injuries. Without Albies, the Braves will not have one-third of their lineup which led baseball in runs scored last season.

It's possible the Braves will be without that third of their lineup for the rest of the regular season.

Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos will surely be on the phone, searching for rotation and outfield replacements before the July 30 trade deadline. And maybe the Braves will receive a boost from prospect Nacho Alvarez, who could make his MLB debut Monday.

But Alvarez and acquired players are unlikely to replace all of the production from the team's injured players. Some of the slack must be made up by stars such as first baseman Matt Olson.

The 30-year-old has followed his best MLB season in 2023 with arguably his worst in 2024. He slashed .230/.309/.405 with 13 home runs and 44 RBI in the first half. Olson then went 0-for-12 against the Cardinals to begin the second part of the season.

With his dismal weekend, Olson's 2024 slugging percentage has dropped to .392. He led the league with a .604 slugging percentage behind 54 home runs last year.

The 0-for-the-weekend is a continuation of the poor finish to the first half for Olson. After Sunday, he's 14-for-104 (.135) with only 4 extra-base hits over the past month.

If there's any good news, Olson put the ball in play, striking out just twice, over the weekend. But overall, his analytics are not positive.

Olson's .283 BABIP this season is pretty much right in line with his career total in the category (.280). That means his struggles in 2024 don't really steam from bad luck.

Olson's hard hit rate is also the lowest it's ever been in his career except for the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Last year, he recorded a 55.6% hard-hit rate. This year, that percentage is down to 47.2%.

None of what Olson has done to this point, though, matters all that much. If he can turn it around, the Braves will forget all about his struggles through the first four months of the season.

But if he doesn't get going, with the amount of injuries the Braves currently have, the team could be in trouble. It's put up, or shut up time for Atlanta's 2-time All-Star first baseman.