Olson's HR surge has Braves flying high with Deadline looming

ATLANTA -- Matt Olson might not tally his second 50-homer season within the past four years. But these past two weeks have at least created reason to discuss the possibility.

Olson belted his 31st season as the Braves completed a four-game series sweep with a 4-2 win over the Nationals on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park. The veteran first baseman has homered six times over 16 games since the All-Star break, four times within the past six games and three times over the past three games.

Ronald Acuña Jr. has missed significant time. Austin Riley has struggled offensively and rotation concerns have existed since October. Yet, the Braves are 22 games above .500 and they own an eight-game lead in the NL East. A constant has been the MVP-caliber production provided by Olson, whose 58 extra-base hits ties him with the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez for the MLB lead.

Olson’s power surge has helped the Braves win 12 of 17 games since the All-Star break. Their success over the past couple weeks has seemingly enhanced the need to bolster their rotation with a significant acquisition before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline.

Mike Yastrzemski got the Braves started on Sunday when he began the bottom of the third with a homer that snuck over the right-center field wall. Olson began the bottom of the fourth by drilling Nationals starter Cade Cavalli’s cutter in the right field seats.

Olson is tied for fourth in the Majors with 31 homers, trailing only Alvarez (35), Hunter Goodman (33) and Kyle Schwarber (33). This is the second time the Braves first baseman has hit at least 31 homers through his first 112 games of a season. The only previous time was during his 54-homer season in 2023, when he had hit 39 homers at this same point.