Matt Olson, Last Season's Homer Leader, Made a Major Change This Offseason
Since his arrival to the Atlanta Braves in 2022, Matt Olson has become one of the most feared sluggers in the National League, winning a Silver Slugger last season and was also the league Home Run leader which resulted in a fourth-place finish for the National League MVP trophy behind Mookie Betts, former Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and his fellow teammate Ronald Acuña Jr. who won the award, Olson has been dominant for the Braves.
Recently, Olson has made some changes to his approach at the plate, as he is trying to become a more balanced hitter and allowing his legs to get more involved.
“I’m just trying to get my lower half into a good spot to hit,” Olson said. “There’s always going to be the ebbs and flows of feels and how they translate. So kind of just find the balance of everything.”
While spring training is the time for big leaguers to make adjustments to their game, Olson has not yet seen his new approach pay off, as he is off to his worst spring since 2019. As a member of the Oakland A's organization, he finished that spring training with a batting average of .129.
That same season, Olson proved that his spring training stats were nothing to worry about as he hit .267 with an OPS of .896 and racked up 36 home runs and 91 RBIs.
On paper, some fans might be looking at Olson's current spring training with some concern, as he has hit just .192 with an OPS of .669 and has only a home run to his name.
As Olson has evolved from a young 25-year-old left-handed hitter with the A's to the veteran 29-year-old today, he did mention to Steven Kornacki of MLB.com that he has slowly started to morph his swing over the years to one similar to famous left-handed hitters like Chipper Jones and Ken Griffey Jr.
“I found myself watching a lot of Chipper [Jones] and Ken Griffey [Jr.] growing up,” Olson said. “Just lefties who I loved their smoother swings.”
Amidst his current struggles, Braves manager Brian Snitker has had conversations with Olson about taking a step back and sitting out for a few games but the veteran first baseman declined and wanted to continue playing.
“Matt’s kind of a throwback guy. He signed a contract to play the game, and he enjoys playing. Not playing is not an option. I mean, he’s had some rough spells and I tried to give him time off, but he didn’t want any part of it." said Snitker.
Olson did go on to praise his former A's teammate Marcus Semien for his work ethic and how he taught Olson to carry himself as a big leaguer.
“He loved playing every day, and I was a young guy," Olson said. "He showed us how it’s done, and then I came over here and that’s how they’ve always done it."
If the saying history repeats is true, based on Olson's spring training struggles in the past, the reigning home run leader should be able to figure things out just in time for when the Braves travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies in less than two weeks.