Matt Olson’s arrival in Atlanta was quickly followed by fans and media alike breaking down spray charts from his time in Oakland, wondering how many of his doubles turn into home runs at Truist Park. While the Braves' first baseman of the present and future has knocked 12 dingers so far, it’s the barreled balls staying inside that park that have Olson on pace to hit a historic milestone this season.
Beating the shift down the third baseline Tuesday night against the Cardinals, Olson picked up his league-leading 32nd double the day after the Braves hit the halfway point of the regular season. If Olson can keep this up, he’s on pace to do something that no other MLB player has done since the 1930s—reach the 60-double mark.
Earl Webb set the record with 67 doubles in 1931 and the 60-double threshold has been met just five other times in the sport’s history with Joe Medwick and Charlie Gehringer doing so in 1936. The last player to arrive at its doorstep was Todd Helton in 2000, but he fell just short with 59.
With 12 games remaining before the All-Star break, Olson is on pace to hit 63 doubles which would tie him with Hank Greenberg (1934) for the fourth-most doubles in a single season.
“I haven’t gotten as many up in the air that have gotten out of the ballpark, and they’ve been more line drives in gaps, a couple of lucky ones like tonight and they just keep adding up,” Olson, who hit 35 doubles total in 2021, said last night.
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Whether Olson keeps on barreling doubles or if some of these doubles turn into home runs, it seems as if the team’s new first baseman is settling in as a key contributor in the Braves lineup as the second half of the season gets underway.