NORTH PORT, Fla. — On a training field in the Braves' spring-training complex, first baseman Matt Olson and third baseman Austin Riley took part in fielding drills together and reimmersed themselves into the rhythms of the game.
Wearing undersized gloves, they took short-hop ground balls off the bat of third base coach Matt Tuiasosopo from a few yards away, a staple of former Braves third base coach Ron Washington. They played catch, and then both took ground balls at third base.
“Just a drill!” Olson shouted afterward at an observer (it was me), wary of rumors spreading about a position change.
It was apparently as enjoyable as it looked.
“Getting out and getting the baseball stuff going is always fun,” Olson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday. “Some of the best trash talking and conversations are out there in the early mornings in spring, just getting back with everybody.”
It’s the start of a year in which Olson will have attention for a different reason than in 2024. At this time a year ago, the question was if Olson could continue the historically productive performance of his 2023 season. Now, after a severe drop-off in 2024, it’s how far back up the hill he can climb.
However, if you want to read that Olson has changed everything up and has smoke coming out of his ears to prove last year was a fluke, you’ve unfortunately come to the wrong column.
“I don’t have any personal vendetta,” he said. “Everybody’s a competitor. You want to do better and show the kind of player you are, for sure. Baseball just doesn’t work like that.”
It was suggested that baseball differs in that way from a game like football, where aggression typically is rewarded.
“Right,” he said. “Exactly.”
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
It was, in fact, ramping up his aggressiveness at the plate that got him in trouble last year. In 2023, he was a centerpiece of the Braves juggernaut. He led the majors in home runs (a franchise-record 54) and RBIs (139) and ranked third in slugging percentage (.604). In baseball history, those plateaus had been reached by a single player in a season only 18 times previously, seven times by known steroids users and six times before the game’s integration.
In March 2024, he offered an observation about baseball:
“You have a really good year and you show yourself kind of what you are capable of and what you believe, but it’s crazy how different years can be.”
And then crazy made its way onto the scene. Olson wallowed through a 26-game homerless streak — the longest of his career — from early April to early May, during which he hit .163 and struck out 30 times in 92 at-bats. Olson started slowly and made it worse on himself. Rather than being selective, he swung at anything that looked like a strike.
“It’s human nature when things are going bad, you want to go out and hit your way out of it,” he said. “See a strike and, ‘Oh, it looks good to hit’ when really it’s a backdoor slider that just got the plate when maybe I should be looking for this guy inside. It’s the little nuances.”
He recovered later in the season. In the final 60 games, he hit 16 home runs with 54 RBIs, a .282 batting average and .573 slugging percentage. But, while he played the full 162 games for the third season in a row, his 29 home runs tied for 24th in the majors. His 98 RBIs ranked 18th. He was 39th in slugging percentage (.457).
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
As central as he was to the Braves winning an MLB-best 104 games in 2023, he likewise was a factor in the drop to 89 wins. The team’s decline at the plate cost hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes their jobs, Seitzer after 10 seasons with the Braves.
“It was never at a point where it’s like, I can’t get my way out of this,” Olson said. “But (it) kind of goes back to the same competitor thing. You know you can do better.”
We’re a little more than a month from starting to find out how much better Olson can be. It will be a defining element of the Braves’ season.
Chances are he won’t hit 50 home runs again. In baseball history, only 10 players have had multiple 50-home run seasons. He doesn’t have to be Freddie Freeman, the beloved Brave whom Riley replaced after Freeman left for the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 2022 season.
But Olson knows he has to be better than 29 home runs. The Braves need more than that from him in their National League East race with the Phillies and Mets.
“He knows what he’s capable of, and I know he’s looking to have a really good year this year,” Riley said Thursday. “It’s there. I think he’s ready. I have no doubt for him.”
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
I asked manager Brian Snitker what he was looking for out of Olson this year after two such disparate seasons. He didn’t have a firm answer. While saying what Olson is capable of is “scary,” Snitker also acknowledged the length of his 2024 slump.
“They’re going to have that,” Snitker said. “They’re going to have four or five days. I think the biggest thing is to keep it at four or five days and not two weeks.”
While it might seem counterintuitive that Olson doesn’t go into the season feeling like he has a score to settle, that’s not how he functions, nor is it how he hit 54 home runs two seasons ago.
Last season has long been put to bed with lessons learned. Onto a new season. Perhaps the game will reveal its craziness once again.
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