Braves Briefing: Matt Olson is mashing his way into the MVP conversation

Matt Olson is on fire right now.

In Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs, he secured three RBIs, including his NL-leading 39th season home run, propelling Atlanta to a 2-0 lead. Olson commands the lead in RBIs across MLB with 97.

Following the All-Star Break, Olson maintains an impressive .303/.415/.758 batting line, smashing nine homers in 19 post-All-Star-Break games.

Olson is right in the NL-MVP race. Ronald Acuña leads the way as the favorite with -1900 odds. Freddie Freeman is second in the betting odds at +1000. Then Olson is listed at +5000 odds, tied with Mookie Betts.

NL East Standings

Team	Record	GB	Action Today
Atlanta	70-39	-	@ Pittsburgh
Philadelphia	61-51	10.5	Hosts Washington
Miami	58-55	14.0	@ Cincinnati
NYM	50-61	21.0	Hosts CHC
Washington	49-63	22.5	@ Philadelphia

We wrote it

Our Lindsay Crosby led the Sunday coverage for Braves Today. In his takeaways, he pointed out Charlie Mortons's interesting season.

The Braves righty was charged with five runs on four hits and four walks in his 4,1 innings pitched. He struck out four, but was lifted with one out in the 5th inning when Cody Bellinger doubled to bring in a 2nd run in the inning and his pitch count already approaching 100 pitches.
For the outing, he threw 99 pitches, 55 for strikes, and took the loss, his 10th of the season. Morton's started 22 games and received a decision in 20 of them, with only two outings in June (7-5 win over the Mets and a 6-5 loss at Detroit) seeing him leave and the lead subsequently changing hands.
Morton's catching barrels 8.1% of the time in 2023, higher than the MLB average (6.9%) but still lower than he did last year (9.3%), where his ERA was a 4.34 as compared to this year's 3.86. His fastball is getting hit harder than ever, despite him throwing it less and with more velocity.
It's perplexing.

Check out the full list of takeaways.

What's next for the Atlanta Braves?

Atlanta continues their road trip today in Pittsburgh, with Spencer Strider (12-3, 3.61 ERA) taking the mound against Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 5.18 ERA) of the Pirates. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET, and the broadcast will be on Bally Sports South.

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