The Braves front office decided that franchise legend and all-around good guy Freddie Freeman was done as the starting first baseman in Atlanta.
His replacement turned out to be Matt Olson, who the club decided to trade for and signed him to an eight-year contract extension worth $168 million. So far, Olson is slashing .249 with a .830 OPS and has been a very productive hitter in the middle of the order.
During an interview on The Midday Show with Andy and Randy on 92.9 The Game Wednesday, Braves manager Brian Snitker says Olson has been awesome ever since his first day in Atlanta, giving him credit for adjusting well to a new environment.
"It's not easy to undergo a lot of newness in his life and in his career right now. I think it probably just happened in a good time in his career, he's been an established major leaguer and it's not an east position. The makeup of the person, the kinda guy he is, how he's ingracatiate himself into our clubhouse, on our team has been awesome."
While not directly addressing Olson's dip in his batting average, compared to his .271 All-Star season in 2021, Snitker stated that he's had to learn to adjust to playing in a new league with pitchers he's never stepped to the plate against.
"You know the biggest thing too is he's learning a new league, there's a lot of pitchers he hasn't faced a lot so he's got a lot going on but he's definitely capable of handling it."
While he may not be hitting it with the constancy he did in 2021, Olson has been a doubles machine when he does make contact--leading the entire MLB with 24.
The Braves are still five games back from the Mets in the NL East standings, but there is a lot more baseball left to play and worst-case scenario, Atlanta will still get the chance to defend their title with a Wild Card birth.
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