LOS ANGELES — Matt Olson wishes he could point to something purposeful, a fix or tweak or deliberate change that he made, to help explain his MVP-caliber start.
He has been one of Major League Baseball’s best first basemen for years, but he’s on a different level to start the 2026 season. The 32-year-old leads MLB in doubles and total bases and the Braves in home runs, RBI, walks, slugging and OPS.
He leads the National League in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement. He’s barreling the ball at the highest rate of his 11-year career, swinging harder than he has either of the past two seasons and producing his lowest whiff rate in five seasons.
It seems the only thing he can’t do right now is elucidate the main reason why.
Matt Olson is off to an MVP-caliber season. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images)
“That’s the hardest question to answer,” Olson told me last weekend while helping the Braves capture their series victory over the Dodgers. “When things are going well, you hit the mistakes. That’s what it feels like. A guy makes a mistake over the plate, you’re barreling it instead of maybe just fouling it off or popping it up or whatever. I haven’t really changed anything. I wish I had a cool answer for you.”
One explanation for the performance could be his higher attack angle, which, in tandem with his already high quality of contact, is helping his hard-hit balls clear the fence. Prior to this year, Olson’s highest fly-ball rate (34.4%) came in 2023, when he hit a career-high 54 home runs. This year, his fly-ball rate is even higher (35.5%), and his 14 home runs have him on a 52-homer pace.
Whichever way he’s getting to his production, the Braves will take it.
A year ago, they won their 30th game of the season on June 13. This year, they reached that mark on May 13 — exactly one month earlier — to become the first team in baseball to 30 wins.
While Olson struggles to explain his own transcendence, it’s no mystery why his team is excelling: The Braves’ pitching staff has the lowest ERA in the sport, and their offense has the highest OPS in the sport.
Coming off back-to-back All-Star seasons, 37-year-old Chris Sale somehow looks even better. Bryce Elder trails only Shohei Ohtani for the lowest ERA among qualified National League starters, and relievers Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias have combined for a 0.53 ERA at the back end of the bullpen. Offensively, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II have found their form again coming off the worst offensive seasons of their career, and 25-year-old Drake Baldwin is already one of the top catchers in the league.
Perhaps above all else, though, Olson looks like an NL MVP contender.
Are these the two NL MVP frontrunners? (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“It’s tough to make a better case than Ohtani every year,” Braves manager Walt Weiss acknowledged, “but Matt’s been unbelievable, one of the best players in the game. People talk about 2023 when he had 54 homers. I think he’s swinging the bat even better now.”
Earlier this month, Olson joined the 300-homer club and moved into the top 10 on the consecutive games played list. His 1.013 OPS is the highest mark of his career, and he continues to grade out as one of the top defensive first basemen in the sport.
When I asked utility man Mauricio Dubon if anything stood out about his new teammates, he singled out Olson. His reasoning went beyond the first baseman’s production.
“He’s smart, he’s a workaholic, and it’s contagious,” Dubón told me, pointing out how diligently Olson studies pitchers and gameplans. “You see, ‘Damn, this guy has so many home runs — he just hit his 300-something home run — playing 800 games in a row, and still doing that?’ Yeah, I gotta step on it. For me, that’s the mentality.”
Dubòn, who was acquired in the offseason for light-hitting shortstop Nick Allen, is hitting above league average for the first time in his eight-year career. He’s among a group of supporting cast members in Atlanta who have helped raise the floor for a Braves team that is bouncing back despite dealing with another plethora of injuries.
The Braves weren’t planning on Dubón starting 23 of their first 43 games at shortstop. They re-signed Ha-Seong Kim to play the position in December. A month later, Kim slipped on ice and needed surgery to repair a torn tendon in his middle finger. It was an ominous sign for Braves fans who watched injuries play a major role in the team’s fourth-place finish last season.
Matt Olson has the Braves flying high. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The avalanche continued from there, as pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep underwent elbow procedures, Joey Wentz tore his ACL, Jurickson Profar was suspended for the year and Spencer Strider suffered an oblique strain all before the start of the season. It felt like 2025 all over again.
Only this time, the Braves responded differently. Many of their players credit Olson’s leadership and studiousness for helping guide the way.
There’s an obvious element of leading by example when you’re the sport’s active ironman, but Olson’s teammates point out that he’s also more vocal than it might appear.
“He’s a guy that’s always in the video room looking at pitchers, getting scouting reports,” outfielder Eli White told me. “He likes to relay that to the guys, what he’s seeing, what he’s thinking. But also, he’s a guy that likes the game to be played hard and played with guys treating the game with respect. If he sees something where he doesn’t think somebody’s holding to a certain standard, he’ll let them know — in a good way, in a respectful way, the way you want guys to hold each other accountable.”
Matt Olson is getting credit for his leadership in the Braves clubhouse. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Sometimes, Olson said, it can be as simple as getting on a young guy for not tipping clubhouse attendants appropriately.
“I’m here when I need to be,” Olson told me. “I think a lot of stuff gets worked out itself, and I think it should be handled in here with the guys first. I’m not the guy to, like, chirp everybody on everything — maybe in a joking manner — but I think by doing that, your voice carries a little more weight. So when something actually does need to be said, people understand, you know, ‘All right, he’s saying something, something’s up.’”
Olson points out that he doesn’t seek out confrontation, and he can count on one hand the amount of times in a season he needs to speak up about someone’s behavior, but he also recognizes that he’s “one of the older guys now.” He feels that’s part of his responsibility.
“But we’ve got a good group,” said Olson, “so there’s not actually a lot that needs to be said.”
Talking baseball, meanwhile, is a much more frequent occurrence.
Having played for the Braves for five seasons, Olson has a better idea now about his teammates’ swings and which players might want his advice.
“We’ve got a few guys that if you go up to them and say, ‘Hey…your back shoulder’s a little low,’ it’ll go right over their head,” Olson explained, “which is great. I honestly envy that big time. But there’s some guys that want to dig into that, and you get a feel for that the more you play with guys.
“I guess I’m more willing — because I’ve been here long enough and know the guys better — to say stuff to guys. If it’s something glaring on the field, like [pitch] tipping, or this guy’s 80% changeup in a 1-1 count, little things I might find, that kind of stuff can impact a game. And I’m kind of letting everybody know about that because I feel like if you know that it’s going to help us win a ballgame.”
The best player on the best team in baseball. (Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images)
This year, the Braves are doing a lot more of that.
Despite the injuries, they’re already leading the National League East by nine games. No other team is leading its division by more than 2.5 games.
Olson, the best player on the best team in baseball, is a major reason why.
“I can’t point to one thing,” he said. “I think maybe last year the bad season we had left a little sour taste in some peoples’ mouths. When we showed up to spring, everybody was locked in.”
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In “Touching Base,” we check on the top players and topics making headlines around baseball and what comes next.