The Atlanta Braves avoided a series sweep against the Arizona Diamondbacks, taking the series finale by a final score of 5-3 . First baseman Matt Olson was the hero on Sunday, launching a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning that Atlanta would hold on to for the victory.
After the game, Braves manager Walt Weiss was asked about his thoughts on Olson seemingly inserting himself into the National League MVP conversation in the month of August.
"Oh yeah, absolutely. The guy in LA makes it pretty tough, but Olson has evolved into one of the best players in the game," Weiss said ( h/t Braves reporter Barrett Sallee ).
As Weiss mentioned, Olson is certainly not the frontrunner right now, with that distinction belonging to Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who has taken home the award in back-to-back seasons.
But this year it is genuinely a race. Ohtani is being pushed hard by Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who has made it a two-man conversation at the top through his elite base-stealing abilities, defense in center field and nearly matching Ohtani at the plate.
Olson sits firmly in third position behind both of them. His overall numbers fall below the two frontrunners, and he does not provide the same elite pitching Ohtani does or the same defensive value that Crow-Armstrong brings in center field, though Olson is a three-time Gold Glove winner in his own right. Still, it is impressive that he is in this conversation at all.
Across 481 at-bats, the 32-year-old veteran has posted a .264 batting average, .340 on-base percentage and .891 OPS. He has launched 36 home runs, second most in the National League, his .551 slugging percentage leads the National League and his 30 doubles lead all of baseball, making him an extra-base hit machine.
He is also playing for one of the best teams in baseball, with the Braves currently in possession of a first-round bye, which only helps his case.
Olson is also the active iron man of baseball, not having missed a game for Atlanta since arriving back in 2022, which speaks to the consistency and durability that define his entire game. It is not impossible for him to win the award.
If he takes his production to another level in the closing weeks and separates himself offensively, his odds could rise. However, Olson's priority is not the individual race but rather getting Atlanta back to the World Series for the first time since 2021.
