Braves first baseman Matt Olson is amid one of the worst slumps of his career in a season that has quickly turned into one that he would like to wipe clean from his memory. Repeating his 2023 campaign was always going to be a tall order. He was coming off a season in which he set a franchise record for home runs with 54 while also leading the league with 139 RBIs. In a different era, he might have walked away with the NL MVP award, setting career highs across the board, but it’s been the exact opposite in 2024, and it’s now a large enough sample size to wonder if there’s enough time for him to bust out of his current funk this season.
Over his last 30 games, Matt Olson is hitting a putrid .126 with a couple of homers, good for a .395 OPS, and those numbers somehow actually look worse over the last nine games, as he has just one hit in 33 at-bats, resulting in a .114 OPS. Combine that with piss-poor defense, and there hasn’t been a worse player in baseball as of late. Olson’s batting average for the season is now creeping dangerously close to the Mendoza Line. He’s slugging under .400, which is over .200 points down from a year ago, and his OPS is now below .700.
Among players that are making north of $20 million this year, Matt Olson ranks 53rd out of 60 in terms of fWAR, accruing -0.1 on the season, a far cry from the 6.6 fWAR he produced a season ago.
every player making over $20 million this year, ranked by fWAR
(RA/9 based for pitchers) pic.twitter.com/2ZOiE1Npoo
— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) July 23, 2024
To further put things into perspective, going off fWAR, Olson is the 40th-ranked first baseman in baseball. That means a slew of reserves have actually outproduced a guy this season that finished fourth in the NL MVP race last year.
It’s been an unexplainably abysmal season for Matt Olson, one that has understandably frustrated everyone, but none more so than Olson himself. With that being said, Braves manager Brian Snitker discussed Olson’s struggles ahead of Tuesday’s game, and lauded his first baseman for his consistency in his approach despite things not going his way.
Brian Snitker on Matt Olson: “He comes in every day the same guy. When you talk to him, you see him and how he goes about it. I think he has been unbelievable how he has handled this. He is such a pro and mentally strong.” pic.twitter.com/BYMUyUh7ZP
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) July 23, 2024
If there’s one thing about Brian Snitker, he’s going to stick with his guys. It’s a primary reason why he’s so respected by every player in the Braves clubhouse.
In this case, the Braves don’t really have much of a choice. Alex Anthopoulos made a decision to trade for and immediately ink Matt Olson to a massive extension, one that takes him through the 2029 season with a club option in 2030. He’s going to be Atlanta’s first baseman now and for the foreseeable future. The Braves have no other option but to hope he busts out of this funk sooner rather than later.
The good news is there’s no questioning whether Olson is capable. We’ve seen it throughout his entire career. Baseball is a fickle game full of peaks and valleys. Right now, he is stuck in a deep valley he’s probably not very familiar with, but if he can somehow come out of it at the right time for the Braves leading into October, I’m sure most fans won’t even remember how horrendous the rest of the season looked for Matt Olson.
