As Olson reaches 300 home runs, how soon could he reach 400 ... or 500?

SEATTLE -- The ball that was sitting in Matt Olson’s locker after the Braves suffered a 5-4 loss to the Mariners on Monday night might one day be sitting next to the balls commemorating what would be his 400th and 500th career home runs.

Both of these milestones are within reach. But for now, Olson will just savor the fact that he is now one of just 166 players to ever hit 300 career homers. His latest milestone shot was the solo homer he hit off Logan Gilbert in Monday’s sixth inning.

“It’s obviously a great milestone,” Olson said. “It would have been great to get the win to make it a little sweeter. But I’ll definitely remember this one.”

Olson is one of five MLB players who have hit at least 12 home runs thus far and his 27 extra-base hits are six more than any other player. This marks just the third time in his career he has hit 10-plus homers through his team’s first 36 games. He had 11 homers at this same point during his franchise-best 54-homer season in 2023.

Olson hit his 300th homer at 32 years and 66 days old. He is one of just 65 players to reach this milestone before his 33-year-old season.

When could Olson possibly reach 500 home runs? He has averaged 37 homers per year over the past five seasons. If he matches that mark this year, he would end the year with 325 homers. But he is on pace to exit 2026 with closer to 340 homers.

Regardless, if he is able to average 30 homers per season through his 37-year-old season, he would blow past 400 and then be in good position to perhaps approach the 500-homer club.