Braves Briefing: Matt Olson keeps setting offensive records

The Atlanta Braves offense has been one of the best in modern baseball history this season and the big first baseman has been a huge part of that

Atlanta-area native Matt Olson, who went to local Parkview High School and grew up watching the '90s and 2000s era Atlanta Braves, his name is now in the record books alongside some of the players he grew up watching. Andruw Jones. Chipper Jones. 

Olson broke Andruw Jones' single-season franchise homer record on Saturday, recording his 52nd home run of the season against Miami. When he was eleven years old, watching Andruw Jones set the record in 2005, did he ever think he'd be the one to break it? 

“I probably wouldn't have believed you,” Olson said, when asked. “We've had a good run here this year. Obviously, a couple games haven’t gone the way we wanted them here, but sometimes hitting is contagious. And I think a lot of these guys have led to [me] having that record. So it'll be something I enjoy.”

Next up for Olson are RBI records - his total of 129 leads all of baseball by 17 (Pete Alonso has 112) and he's approaching two Braves records: The Atlanta record is 132, by Gary Sheffield in 2003, while the modern-era franchise record is 135, by Eddie Mathews of the Milwaukee Braves. Technically, the franchise record is 145, from Hugh Duffy of the Boston Beaneaters in 1894, but most commentators talk about the franchise record belonging to Eddie Mathews. 

Side note: We really need to talk more about the dominance of the Boston Beaneaters and Hugh Duffy in the 1890s. 

(The ever-excellent Will Moon wrote a story earlier in the week detailing all of the relevant statistical records, if you want to see all of them. It's a lot, actually)

NL Wild Card Standings

The Atlanta Braves have won the NL East, but we're closely watching the Wild Card race as Atlanta will play the winner of the Wild Card series pitting the top two wild card finishers in the Divisional Round.

Team	Record	Wild Card Games Back	Action Today
Philadelphia	81-67	+4.0	@ Cardinals
Chi Cubs	78-71	+0.5	@ Diamondbacks
Arizona	78-72	--	vs Cubs
Cincinnati	78-72	--	@ Mets
Miami	77-72	-0.5	vs Braves
San Francisco	75-74	-2.5	@ Rockies

Philly feels like they've all but locked up a postseason berth, but seeding matters, and both them and the Cubs still have a series versus Atlanta on the schedule. Tiebreakers will definitely come into play here, as well, as there's quite a few teams either tied or barely behind the race for the final wild card spot.  

We Wrote It

Despite the loss, we highlighted the contributions of Jackson Stephens last night out of the bullpen.

As they have so many times this season, the bullpen came in and carried the load. Newly-recalled Jackson Stephens was the first man up, covering the 4th through 6th innings for Atlanta. He finished the three inning outing with four hits and two walks allowed, but no runs and four strikeouts. It wasn't an incredibly efficient performance, throwing sixty-eight pitches (forty-one strikes), but Stephens absolutely answered the call and kept Atlanta in the game. 

Read the whole piece HERE. 

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

 Atlanta wraps the series this afternoon in Miami, with Charlie Morton (14-11, 3.42 ERA) on the mound against LHP Jesus Luzardo (9-9, 3.82 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:40 PM ET, and the broadcast can be seen on Bally Sports Southeast.

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