ATLANTA — About half-hour earlier than Matt Olson took one other step towards breaking the Braves’ season document for residence runs, Andruw Jones stated he predicted the primary baseman can be the one who would erase the mark Jones set in 2005.
“When we got Matt Olson, I told a buddy of mine, ‘I think this is the guy who is going to hit 50 home runs,” Jones stated. “The first year he hit [34] and came up short. He’s just got that swing. I’m pushing for him and hopefully, he can break it.”
Olson moved inside three of Jones’ document when he hit his MLB-leading forty eighth homer in an 8-4 loss to the Pirates on Saturday night time at Truist Park. The seventh-inning solo shot accounted for one of many few highlights for the Braves, who used Dylan Dodd as their beginning pitcher to assist set their rotation for a four-game collection that begins Monday in Philadelphia.
The Braves stay a win away from changing into the primary staff to clinch a postseason berth this yr. Here’s a have a look at the place they stand with 21 video games remaining:
Olson has homered in 5 of his previous six video games and now has 4 extra homers than Shohei Ohtani, who ranks second in MLB with 44. Olson’s 48 homers are additionally the second-highest whole in franchise historical past. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Jones had beforehand been the one Braves to hit at the least 47.
Along with homering, Olson scored Ronald Acuña Jr. with a third-inning single. He additionally leads the Majors with 118 RBIs. Olson is on tempo for 135 RBIs, a determine no participant has reached since 2013, when Chris Davis (138) and Miguel Cabrera (137) each surpassed the mark.
“What a great year,” Braves supervisor Brian Snitker stated. “He just stays the course. It’s been fun to watch and be a part of it.”
Leading the Majors in homers and RBIs would possibly seemingly make a participant the NL MVP favourite. But among the many prime candidates, Olson sits behind Mookie Betts and Acuña, who added a pair of hits and a stolen base to his unbelievable stat line.
Acuña now ranks second within the NL with a 1.003 OPS, 0.017 behind Betts’ mark. The solely different NL gamers with an OPS above .910 are Freddie Freeman (.986) and Olson (.984).
The first baseman was hitting .228 with 18 homers, an .830 OPS, a 29.9 % strikeout price and a 14.4 at-bats per residence run ratio by way of June 14.
In 73 video games since then, he has hit .320 with 30 homers, a 1.130 OPS, a 18.8 % strikeout price and a 9.2 at-bats per residence run ratio. He has hit six extra homers and pushed in 5 extra runs than every other Major Leaguer inside that span. His OPS has been trumped solely by Ohtani (1.153) and Betts (1.141).
Olson has confirmed Jones proper whereas shifting nearer to that residence run document. But, whereas setting up one of many best seasons in Braves historical past, he has additionally confirmed to be rather more than only a residence run hitter.
Content Source: www.mlb.com