Olson on fire, Sale's HOF résumé and other takeaways from a red-hot start

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- A little more than a quarter into the season, the Braves are on pace for 110-plus wins. Their MLB-best 30-13 record is their second-best through 42 games since moving to Georgia in 1966. The only Atlanta club with a better record at this point was the 1998 team that had signed a shortstop named Walt Weiss during the offseason.

Sensing a trend here? We don’t want to put Weiss in a new role next year. But just to create the feel of another first year in Atlanta, we can use some of that corporate jargon by giving him the title of executive VP of baseball management.

Okay, enough of that nonsense. Here are some random thoughts as we prepare to enter the second half of May:

Olson's on fire
If the season ended today, Matt Olson would get my National League MVP vote. He leads the Majors in extra-base hits and the NL in fWAR. Defensively, he is tied for the lead among NL first basemen with 4 Outs Above Average. His fifth season in Atlanta is shaping up to be a special one. And yes, count me among those who think we’ll be frequently referring to him as a future Hall of Famer over the next few years.

How incredible is it to think between Freddie Freeman and Olson, the Braves might end up having a HOF first baseman over at least 20 consecutive seasons, from 2011 to Olson’s option year in 2030?

Sale's bid for the Hall
Speaking of future Hall of Famers, Chris Sale will enter Thursday’s start against the Cubs as one of six pitchers of the Divisional Era (since 1969) who has constructed a sub-3.00 ERA over 2,000-plus innings. One of the other five hurlers is Andy Messersmith, the pitcher forever linked to Ted Turner. After acquiring Messersmith in 1976, Turner placed “Channel” above the pitcher’s jersey number (17) to help promote his television station WTCG 17, which would later be known worldwide as WTBS.

Sale is 151-90 with a 2.99 ERA and 2,635 strikeouts over his 16-year career. He is one of nine pitchers in MLB history to have collected at least 150 wins and at least 2,500 strikeouts with a sub-3.00 ERA. The others are Tom Seaver, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Clayton Kershaw, Bob Gibson, Cy Young and Tim Keefe. Kershaw and Sale are the only members of this group not yet elected to the Hall of Fame; Kershaw will be on the ballot for the first time in 2031.

Mixing pitchers
It feels like it was a plan that evolved out of nowhere and will likely continue to evolve on a day-to-day basis. But I like how the Braves are handling Grant Holmes, Martín Pérez and Didier Fuentes. The way each has been used has improved the odds of each remaining healthy and strong throughout the season.

Pérez seems to fit the role of starting pitcher better than Holmes. But if the Braves feel better about a right-hander going through the lineup a time or two, it makes sense to keep giving Holmes some starts. When Holmes struggled in the fourth inning Tuesday, Fuentes was there to pick things up in the fifth and deliver three scoreless innings of relief.

Along with helping the Braves win, the 20-year-old neared that 40-pitch mark. If he needs to stretch out as a starter again at some point, fine. But if he spends the rest of the season aiding the bullpen, he’ll continue to make a valuable impact and also possibly gain long-term benefits in terms of arm health.

León's time?
With Sean Murphy out until the All-Star break with a fractured left middle finger, the Braves will need to determine whether Sandy León is best fit to serve as Drake Baldwin’s backup behind the plate the next two months.

After Murphy’s fracture was announced on Tuesday, one joker in the press box said the Braves should try to get Jonah Heim from the A’s. To create a roster spot for Murphy last week, Heim was sent to the A’s last week in exchange for cash.

As you read in some previous newsletters, I was among those who felt it would have been best to carry Heim until Ha-Seong Kim was activated from the injured list. But that was before it was known Michael Harris II would be unavailable to play the outfield for a stretch.

When Harris was limited to hitting responsibilities, the Braves would have limited their bench flexibility by carrying three catchers.

But then, Harris began playing the field one day after Heim was traded and Murphy was put back on the IL, one day before Kim was activated.

That’s some tough luck. But León is more than capable of giving the Braves everything they would have received from Heim. And if he doesn’t work out, another similar option will come available.