<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/braves-news-matt-olson-hits-historic-mlb-milestone-tigers-fans-dont-need-know');   ga('set', 'title', 'Braves’ Matt Olson hits historic MLB milestone Tigers fans don’t need to know');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Braves-news-Matt-Olson-hits-historic-MLB-milestone-Tigers-fans-dont-need-to-know.jpg"></figure><h1>Braves’ Matt Olson hits historic MLB milestone Tigers fans don’t need to know</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-06-20T09:00:07-07:00">June 20th, 9:00am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-06-20T09:35:48-07:00">June 20th, 9:35am</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In baseball, it’s rare for one player to dominate an entire team over an extended period. However, Atlanta Braves first baseman <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/what-has-gone-wrong-with-braves-matt-olson-after-home-run-leading-season">Matt Olson isn’t just anybody</a>.</p><p>The two-time All-Star has <a href="https://twitter.com/OptaSTATS/status/1803534344998514924" rel="noopener">gone on an unprecedented run</a> against the Detroit Tigers, via OptaSTATS</p><p>“Following today’s win by the @Braves over the Tigers, Matt Olson now has a career team record of 27-3 when facing Detroit,” the account tweeted. “The 27 team wins are the most ever through 30 career games against a single American League opponent.”</p><p>Olson’s Braves defeated the Tigers 7-0 Wednesday, completing a three-game sweep against the struggling AL Central outfit. The 30-year-old struggled in the series, going 0-for-10 with four strikeouts. However, he’s still enjoying a decent year at the plate slashing .251/.331/.453 with 11 homers and 38 RBI.</p><p>Olson’s dominance of Detroit started with the Oakland Athletics, who he played with from 2016 to 2021. The 30-year-old is hitting .255 with 28 hits, seven homers, 18 RBI, and 21 runs scored <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/matt-olson-vs-tigers" rel="noopener">against the team all-time</a>, via StatMuse.</p><p>At 41-31, Atlanta is treading water after losing Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. for the season. With a trip to the Bronx coming up next, can the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/what-a-perfect-braves-trade-deadline-looks-like">Braves make up more ground</a> on the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL East crown?</p><h2><b>The Braves are showing off their depth</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Braves-Matt-Olson.jpg"><figcaption>© Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Atlanta may be turning a corner after an underwhelming start to the season. A combination of injuries and quiet bats were at fault, but the team’s recent run has raised its batting average to .246, good for 13th in the league.</p><p>On the other hand, the Braves got lucky with the rest of the NL also being subpar. With only a handful of other winning teams to battle within the wildcard chase, the squad has been able to stay in the mix without playing at its best. General manager Alex Anthopoulos <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5576612/2024/06/20/atlanta-braves-news-results-stats-highlights-2-2/" rel="noopener">admitted as much</a>, via <i>The Athletic</i>.</p><p>“Look, we haven’t played well. I’m stating the obvious there,” he said last Wednesday. “The one thing is, you look at the (NL East) standings obviously, but the fact that the majority of the National League hasn’t played well has been good for us … So as much as you can look at the standings and you’re still looking at playoff spots and so on — we have to play better obviously, but the fact that you can keep your head above water when you’re not playing well … we are fortunate that the NL hasn’t played up to its capabilities across the board.”</p><p>However, with Atlanta winning six of its last seven games, it may finally be realizing its greater potential again, even without a couple of stars.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Braves’ Matt Olson hits historic MLB milestone Tigers fans don’t need to know

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/what-has-gone-wrong-with-braves-matt-olson-after-home-run-leading-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'What has gone wrong with Braves’ Matt Olson after home run leading season?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/What-has-gone-wrong-with-Braves-Matt-Olson-after-home-run-leading-season.jpg"></figure><h1>What has gone wrong with Braves’ Matt Olson after home run leading season?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-12T16:43:35-07:00">May 12th, 4:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-12T16:43:35-07:00">May 12th, 4:43pm</time><address><a>Shane Shoemaker</a>Shane Shoemaker is an Associate Editor and Editorial writer for ClutchPoints, covering a wide range of sports and entertainment topics. Shane is a lifelong Tennessean yet refuses allegiance to any Tennessee-based teams. He's a graduate from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga with a BA in Communications/Journalism. There's a good chance he'll never let you forget the Atlanta Braves won the 2021 World Series.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>At this time last year, the Atlanta Braves were just starting their historic season. They were racking up runs and homers, putting up staggering offensive numbers that would end up being team highs. One player who had a lot to do with that was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-news-matt-olson-on-recent-offensive-struggles">first baseman Matt Olson</a>, who led the league in home runs in 2023. This season, not only has Olson not found his power swing, but he hasn’t found much of a swing at all.</p><p>In the first 36 games last year, Olson had already launched 11 home runs to go along with 34 hits in 165 plate appearances. In the first 36 games of this season, Olson has just four home runs and 26 hits in 155 plate appearances. Olson also has just four multi-hit games this season compared to last year’s seven.</p><p>Every team has guys go through slumping periods. That’s just the nature of the game. Last year, it was Marcell Ozuna who struggled mightily at the beginning of the season but then all of a sudden came alive. He was 5-for-59 with a .085 batting average but then turned it on in May to basically save his job. Ironically, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-news-marcell-ozuna-reveals-key-red-hot-start-2024-season">it’s now Ozuna</a> who is having to pick up Olson’s slack.</p><p>“It’s part of what we sign up for,” Olson <a href="https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-notes-olsons-ability-to-flush-tough-times-a-cool-morton-sale-stat/TYAHAZQNEFCJLPFUMPKFEGRJVY/" rel="noopener">told</a> the Atlanta Journal-Constitution of his recent slump. “You gotta do what you can to get back on the right path, however long it might be, and continue to build it up the right way.”</p><p>Olson ended the month of April hitting below the Mendoza line with a .189 batting average. Eleven days and eight games into May, it’s even worse, hitting .172 with an overall average of .195. The Braves’ first baseman has five hits, no extra-base hits, scored two runs, and knocked in three.</p><p>What is interesting about Olson is that he has cut down his strikeouts this season compared to last year at this time. Last year, he had 55 strikeouts, this year he has 41. So what’s wrong with the Braves slugger?</p><h2><b>What has happened to Matt Olson this season?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/USATSI_23122445-scaled.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Braves fans likely got used to seeing their new first baseman hitting the long ball last season. After having to adjust a little bit, replacing a legend like Freddie Freeman at the same position in 2022, Matt Olson had an MVP-like season in his second year in Atlanta. Hitting 54 home runs while slashing .283/.389/.604 will do that, and if not for his teammate Ronald Acuna Jr. taking the National League’s MVP award, it may have been Olson’s to lose.</p><p>But Olson now has to make up for a lot of ground this season as he’s not even hitting .200 currently. Granted, it’s still a long season ahead, but Olson looks to be a far cry from how he was producing last season, helping the Braves offense put up monster numbers.</p><p>Doing a deep dive through FanGraphs data into Olson this season, there are some glaring issues with his offense. Firstly, his <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/matt-olson/14344/game-log?type=1&amp;gds=&amp;gde=&amp;season=&amp;position=1B" rel="noopener">isolated power</a> has taken a massive plummet, finishing with .321 last year to just .165 currently. <a href="https://www.fangraphs.com/players/matt-olson/14344/game-log?type=1&amp;gds=2023-03-29&amp;gde=2023-05-09&amp;season=&amp;position=1B" rel="noopener">Last year</a>, 40.7 percent of the time Olson was hitting the ball hard, whereas this season, that’s dropped to 34.4 percent. That certainly would explain his lack of power that’s kept the ball inside the park. But what’s interesting is that his contact percentage on pitches inside the zone, along with his overall contact percentage, has jumped up around seven percent from last season.</p><p>Another thing that did come off as notable was how much Olson was spreading the ball around last season, which likely led to his career-best 172 hits. He finished last season pulling the ball just 38.2 percent of the time, the lowest of his entire career, hitting it in center 26.9 percent and opposite field 24.7 percent. That’s looking vastly different this season so far, where he’s above his career average pulling the ball, up to 48.4 percent of the time and off by last year’s hit total by eight. Once we see Olson start to spread the ball around more might be when we know he’s coming out of his slump.</p><p>Luckily for the Braves, they have a lineup that can usually pick up the slack when someone is in a major slump. But this funk that Olson is in, although still relatively early, is starting to become a bit concerning.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

What has gone wrong with Braves’ Matt Olson after home run leading season?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/braves-news-matt-olson-on-recent-offensive-struggles');   ga('set', 'title', 'Braves’ Matt Olson gets brutally honest on recent offensive struggles');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Matt-Olson-gets-brutally-honest-on-recent-offensive-struggles.jpg"></figure><h1>Braves’ Matt Olson gets brutally honest on recent offensive struggles</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-11T14:44:02-07:00">May 11th, 2:44pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-11T14:44:02-07:00">May 11th, 2:44pm</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/angels-news-los-angeles-anthony-rendon-roster-move-complete-trade-braves">Braves are currently</a> in second place in the National League East. However, it’s been a rough start to the season for star infielder Matt Olson. The veteran first baseman is hitting well below his career averages and now he opens up about his offensive struggles so far.</p><p>Olson claims he has the ability to “flush it” whenever <a href="https://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-notes-olsons-ability-to-flush-tough-times-a-cool-morton-sale-stat/TYAHAZQNEFCJLPFUMPKFEGRJVY/" rel="noopener">he enters a slump</a>, according to Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Braves star explains that he likes to get his mind away from baseball during times like these.</p><p>“For me, it’s always just having normal conversations with the guys in here, going to dinner, playing golf, just talking to family, friends. Kind of just be Matt Olson who’s not the baseball player and just the person, and hang out with people. It’s easy to get wrapped up in baseball and the outcomes when you’re doing it every day, but there’s a lot of life outside of it, too. Kind of giving that perspective always seems to help.”</p><p>So far this season, Matt Olson is recording a .202 batting average, 18 RBIs, and four home runs. Olson went 26 days straight without hitting a home run after finally snapping that streak on May 10 against the New York Mets. Maybe it gets him back on track, which would be great news for the Braves.</p><p>Having Olson back to his regular self would be massive for Atlanta. The Braves look like one of the best teams in the league again and they’ll need Matt Olson’s bat to come alive if they hope to retake the lead of the NL East. Luckily, there are several months remaining in the regular season, giving Olson plenty of time to figure it out.</p><h2>Braves 2024 season outlook</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ronald-Acuna-celebrating-in-the-dugout.jpg"><figcaption>Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Although <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-news-ronald-acuna-jr-gets-100-honest-on-second-homer-of-season-amid-cold-start">the Braves are</a> in the heat of the playoff race they have the potential of totally running away with it in the National League. Their biggest competition are the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. Additionally, the Milwaukee Brewers are looking fantastic to begin the season as well. In short, Atlanta has their hands full for a potential title run.</p><p>The good news is they have one of the most talented rosters in the league. Ronald Acuna Jr. is an absolute beast despite having a slow start to the season. Either way, it’ll be tough for the Braves’ pitching rotation with Spencer Strider out for the entire season.</p><p>Overall, we should expect to see this team make a postseason appearance. With that said, look for the Braves to potentially get hot early on in the summer, especially if Matt Olson gets back to form. If not, then they’ll likely remain in the playoff hunt regardless.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Braves’ Matt Olson gets brutally honest on recent offensive struggles

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/braves-news-travis-darnaud-reveals-helped-matt-olson-kickstart-atlantas-big-rally');   ga('set', 'title', 'Travis d’Arnaud reveals how he helped Matt Olson kickstart Braves’ big rally');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Braves-news-Travis-dArnaud-reveals-how-he-helped-Matt-Olson-kickstart-Atlantas-big-rally.jpg"></figure><h1>Travis d’Arnaud reveals how he helped Matt Olson kickstart Braves’ big rally</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-06T08:11:11-07:00">April 6th, 8:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-06T08:11:11-07:00">April 6th, 8:11am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">MLB</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For much of the Atlanta Braves <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/diamondbacks-vs-braves-prediction-odds-pick-how-to-watch-4-6-2024">contest</a> against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, things weren’t going according to plan. Their ace Spencer Strider got <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-news-spencer-strider-injury-update-elbow-issue">tagged for five runs</a> over four innings, and the Braves lineup was struggling to get create runs. But then Matt Olson led a rally in the ninth inning to force extra innings, where Travis d’Arnaud ended up delivering a walk-off RBI single.</p><p>d’Arnaud obviously helped the Braves close this game out, but he may have inadvertently helped them extend it too. After the game, the veteran catcher revealed that he was <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/braves-walk-off-diamondbacks-in-2024-home-opener?partnerID=mlbapp-iOS_article-share" rel="noopener">poking fun</a> at Olson in the dugout ahead of his huge RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, and he believes that fired him up to go out and deliver a big hit for Atlanta when they needed it the most.</p><p>“In the ninth inning, I made fun of [Olson] before he got his big double. I don’t know if that loosened him up or made him angry. I don’t know what it did. But I know our team chemistry is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It wasn’t PG.” – Travis d’Arnaud, MLB.com</p><h2><b>Matt Olson, Travis d’Arnaud didn’t panic despite big deficit</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Travis-dArnaud-and-Matt-Olson.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>It’s not a comeback if you can’t finish it off, and d’Arnaud certainly helped the team do that in this one. But Olson got them there by mashing a big double, and then coming around to score on a game-tying double by Jarred Kelenic. These sorts of rallies are tough to pull off, but Olson believes that Atlanta’s chemistry, such as his playful banter with d’Arnaud, helps them stay calm in these pressure-packed situations.</p><p>“I think it’s part chemistry and part not a lot of panic. We have the confidence we can come back in any situation against anybody. When you believe that, it’s going to happen more than if you don’t.” – Matt Olson, MLB.com</p><p>While they’ve only played six games, the Braves have raced out to a quick 4-2 start, and picking up this sort of victory against the 2023 National League champion in the Diamondbacks isn’t something that can be overlooked. Atlanta is battle-tested when it comes to these sorts of contests, and the makeup of their team is what helps them deliver in the biggest moments.</p><p>Nobody is doubting the Braves regular season pedigree, but after a pair of disappointing playoff defeats over the past two years, everyone is going to be paying attention to see if they can go on a deeper run this year. Wins like this one over the Diamondbacks surely help, but it won’t mean much to some fans until the postseason comes around. If d’Arnaud and Olson can keep pushing each other’s buttons and finding ways to motivate the rest of their team, though, the Braves are going to become even more dangerous than they already are.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Travis d’Arnaud reveals how he helped Matt Olson kickstart Braves’ big rally

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/braves-mvp-candidate-and-its-not-ronald-acuna-jr-matt-olson');   ga('set', 'title', 'Braves MVP candidate, and it’s not Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/braves-mvp-candidate-and-its-not-ronald-acuna-jr-matt-olson.jpg"></figure><h1>Braves MVP candidate, and it’s not Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-01T18:08:33-07:00">April 1st, 6:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-02T00:51:50-07:00">April 2nd, 12:51am</time><address><a>Shane Shoemaker</a>Shane Shoemaker is an Associate Editor and Editorial writer for ClutchPoints, covering a wide range of sports and entertainment topics. Shane is a lifelong Tennessean yet refuses allegiance to any Tennessee-based teams. He's a graduate from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga with a BA in Communications/Journalism. There's a good chance he'll never let you forget the Atlanta Braves won the 2021 World Series.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With one series and one game into the season, the Atlanta Braves are already off to a hot start, with a current record of 3-1 and the leaders of the NL East division. The Braves once again boast a robust lineup thanks to the likes of last year’s NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr., not to mention Matt Olson, who finished fourth in the award last season behind his teammate.</p><p>With as deep as this Braves lineup is still, bringing back pretty much all of their firepower from last season, anyone could realistically be considered a MVP. However, one player that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-michael-harris-2024-hype-gets-boost-after-claim-from-mlb-coach-of-the-year-winner">might deserve special attention</a> is the Braves centerfielder, Michael Harris II.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Money Mike made it rain 💸☔️<a href="https://twitter.com/MoneyyyMikeee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MoneyyyMikeee</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BravesCountry?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BravesCountry</a> <a href="https://t.co/w9rNz5mUMO">pic.twitter.com/w9rNz5mUMO</a></p><p>— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) <a href="https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1774215622626279436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 30, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Michael Harris II could be next in line for an NL MVP</b></h2><p>This may or may not feel a bit premature to put Harris on pedestal. After all, we’re just four games into the season thus far. But with such a long season ahead, it’s important to remember where players start and not just where they finish. So far, the Braves centerfielder in 16 at-bats in the infant 2024 season has seven hits, two walks, two doubles, one homer, two RBI, three strikeouts, slashing .438/.500/.750 with an OPS of 1.250. Jarred Kelenic and Ozzie Albies are giving him a run for his money currently, though, being the ones slashing better on the team.</p><p>Kelenic — who also platoons with outfielder Adam Duvall — currently obtains the spot in the order that was previously obtained by Harris mostly the last two seasons, hitting in the nine-hole. Since the National League acquired the designated hitter, the Braves have been one of the better teams on that side of the league to efficiently use to No. 9 hitter to their advantage. But this season Harris looks to have found himself higher in the order, hitting sixth currently.</p><p>It seems that skipper Brian Snitker may have found a sweet spot for Harris in the six-hole. In his 84 plate appearances hitting sixth, including this seasons at-bats, Harris has posted his best numbers in that spot in the lineup. He’s slashing .470/.493/.763 with 33 hits and four homers.</p><p>If Harris were perhaps on any other team, it’s likely he’d be moved up to the top of the lineup. But when you have Acuna, Albies, Austin Riley, Olson and Marcell Ozuna ahead of him, it’s difficult to make a sensible argument for that, at least for now. Most forget that Harris, who is only 23, has had very little big league at bats, not to mention even minor league at bats. In the majors, he’s had 935 at-bats so far, <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=harris010mic" rel="noopener">compared to</a> only 746 in the minors, according to Baseball-Reference.</p><h2><b>The Braves play their best with Michael Harris II in the lineup</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Michael-Harris-II.jpg"><figcaption>© Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Coming into his third season, this feels a bit like a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/braves-news-michael-harris-ii-gets-real-atlanta-2024-season">breakout season in 2024</a> for the former 2022 Rookie of the Year. In fact, he could be a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/why-braves-will-win-2024-world-series">catalyst to the Braves</a> success this season. Going back to last year, the Braves <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/braves-record-last-year-with-michael-harris" rel="noopener">were 92-46</a> with Harris in the lineup, compared to going 12-12 without him, per StatMuse. Small sample size or not, that seems to be something to watch out for going forward.</p><p>It was injuries that caused the young superstar to have a bit of an inconsistent season last year. In the first half, where most of his injuries occurred, he hit .255. In the second half, he hit .325, where he was able to finish his season with an overall average of .293.</p><p>Typically speaking, Harris has been a slow starter at the beginning of the season, batting just .173 in March/April and May in his first two seasons. That doesn’t seem to be the case so far this season with is .438 average.</p><p>With all that said, overcoming Acuna will be a feat all unto itself, along with, of course, other NL contenders like Los Angeles Dodgers’ superstar Shohei Ohtani. Harris’ one advantage over Acuna and Ohtani would be his defensive prowess in centerfield where he is quickly becoming one of the best at the position in the MLB. Ohtani will likely stick to mostly DH’ing, and Acuna, while good defensively, is not Harris good in the outfield. Forging both his talents together from offense and defense would make quite the case for MVP considerations if he can keep consistent this year. That would make Harris the surprise of the season for not just the Braves but in all of baseball. If in his third year he comes into form, he makes the Braves lineup even more lethal and may just make himself a favorite for the NL MVP.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.159	1	2	0.552	0

2024 SEASON STATS
BA	HR	RBI	OPS	SB
.159	1	2	0.552	0

Matt Olson

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Braves MVP candidate, and it’s not Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson

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