He’s been the Atlanta Braves most consistent player in 2025 but it took first baseman Matt Olson until the second week of September to earn his first 2025 Battery Power Braves Player of the Week Award.
It has been a quietly effective season for Olson – his power numbers aren’t at the level as they have been for most of his career – but he finds himself in the top 10 of numerous offensive categories in the National League, including having a decent shot at leading the senior circuit in doubles.
Still
the active leader in consecutive games played, Olson’s offensive production has started yielding more noticeable results going back to August. This past week, with the team’s most recent offensive stand-outs coming back to earth – Jurickson Profar, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris II and Drake Baldwin have all cooled off – Olson’s consistency catapulted him to the top of the team’s offensive performers.
More on Olson in a moment.
Offensively, it wasn’t the best-of-weeks for the Braves, with Marcell Ozuna and Ronald Acuña, Jr. being the only other regular players with above-average production. Congratulations to veteran catcher Sandy Léon who got the start on Sunday and hit his first big league home run since 2021. Otherwise, it was the dregs.
On the mound, the team wasn’t much better – they book-ended wins going 2-4 for the week – for good reason. But, relievers Tyler Kinley, Raisel Iglesias, Peirce Johnson and Dylan Lee each posted three scoreless appearances on the week, with the foursome being the standouts on the team’s pitching staff.
Battery Power Braves Player of the Week: Matt Olson
Matt Olson, 31, is wrapping-up his forth season as the Atlanta Braves first baseman, and depending on how the last two weeks of the season go, it could be his second-best offensive season as a Brave outside of his record-setting 2023 season.
Although he’s hit only 25 home runs this season – 29 has been his lowest full-season total since coming to the majors – he is on pace to exceed his hits and walk total in any season other than 2021 and is one double away from tying his high-water mark set last season.
This week – playing in all six games, obviously – Olson c0llected seven hits in 20 at bats, walked three times and slugged three home runs. He drove in four and scored five times while posting a 1.217 OPS. His home runs accounted for most of that run creation.
Three times this week he collected two hits and a home run in a single game – Monday against the Chicago Cubs and Saturday and Sunday against the Houston Astros.
This output this week has raised his season-long wRC+ to 134 while collecting 268 total bases and walking 13-percent of the time. He’s tied for 11th in all of baseball with a 53.8 hard hit percentage.
With two weeks remaining in the 2025 season, a continued hot streak could see Olson flirt with 30 home runs. He’s also four RBI from 800 for his career, and Sunday saw him score his 700th career run.
