Braves Briefing: Matt Olson is him

Matt Olson keeping hitting home runs for the Atlanta Braves.

The Atlanta Braves took on the Cincinnati Reds on a historic weekend as they stepped foot in town as the visitors for one of the biggest regular season series of the 2023 MLB season.

It was a record-breaking series from an attendance standpoint at Great American Ball Park. There was a reported weekend attendance of 126,724 fans watching the Braves and Reds square off, the highest total in the history of the ballpark.

Those fans in attendance got to see Matt Olson continue raking at a high level. The Braves first baseman now tied Shohei Ohtani for the MLB lead in home runs with 25. In the last seven games, he's hit six and does not show any signs of slowing down as the Braves prepare for the Minnesota Twins.

Kevin Keneely tweeted out this ridiculous stat about Olson's season so far.

Through 77 games, Matt Olson currently has 25 home runs, 60 RBI, 50 BB, and 58 runs scored. There have only been 15 players in MLB history to have 50+ home runs, 100+ RBI, 100+ BB and 100+ runs scored throughout a season…

Will be fun to see if he can keep it going.

NL East Standings

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	50-27	-	Hosts Minnesota
Miami	45-34	6.0	Off
Philadelphia	40-37	10.0	Off
NYM	35-42	15.0	Hosts Milwaukee
Washington	30-47	20.0	@ Seattle

We wrote it

Lindsay Crosby handled our game coverage of the series finale between the Braves and Reds. One thing he pointed out in his takeaways was the return of Sean Murphy.

The Braves catcher, slowed for the last week with "hamstring irritation" after an injury against Colorado last Saturday, finally returned to the lineup and looked none the worse for the layoff. He went 2-4, with a RBI single, a walk, and a strikeout, playing all nine innings behind the plate and making all of the defensive plays without incident.
Atlanta's decision to DFA Charlie Culberson and carry three catchers didn't come back to bite them, thankfully - there was no backup infielder on the roster for the week, so an injury would have required some shuffling of the lineup for the rest of that game. 

Check out the full takeaways here.

Watch highlights of Atlanta vs the Reds

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta's back in action Monday, starting a three-game home series against the Minnesota Twins. Spencer Strider is set to take on Sonny Gray, with first pitch scheduled for 7:20 PM ET. 

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