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Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson notched his MLB-best 51st home run of 2023 on Tuesday night to tie the franchise record for homers in a single season. Here’s what you need to know:

• The record-tying blast came against Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler in the top of the fourth inning. The 367-foot solo shot to left center tied the game 1-1 and Atlanta went on to win 7-6 in 10 innings.
• Olson tied the previous franchise mark set by Braves legend Andruw Jones in 2005.
• Olson — batting .281/.388/.619 this season — leads the majors by seven home runs.

Matt Olson ties Andruw Jones for the most HR (51) in a season in @Braves franchise history! pic.twitter.com/kOthvwHCsQ

— MLB (@MLB) September 12, 2023

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

How Olson got here

Olson has seven more homers than the next-highest total in the majors — Shohei Ohtani and Pete Alonso’s 44 — and also has a big lead with 128 RBIs, 23 more than anyone else in either league. He’s hitting .281 with a 1.007 OPS and is seven RBIs from matching Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews’ 1953 franchise record of 135.

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None of this seemed likely less than three months ago, when Olson had 21 homers and 52 RBIs in 74 games and was hitting just .230 with an .846 OPS and more than twice as many strikeouts (MLB-high 98) as walks (48).

But his stats since then have been rather extraordinary.

In his past 71 games, he has hit .336 with 46 extra-base hits including 30 homers and 76 RBIs with a nearly 1.200 OPS, while striking out 57 times with 46 walks. To repeat, that’s 30 homers and 57 strikeouts in 316 plate appearances in the last 71 games, compared to 21 homers and 98 strikeouts in 334 plate appearances in the first 74 games. He has started every game this season at first base.

“Yeah, I mean, I wish I had a definitive answer for it,” Olson said of his reduction in strikeouts and increase in everything good. “I remember telling you that I was taking some hard swings earlier in the season, and missing pitches earlier in the count. And that put me in a bad spot and led to more strikeouts. So I guess I made a conscious effort to dial it back for a little bit.

“I just feel like I’ve taken a lot of movement out. Just finding a way to deliver the barrel a little more consistently. There’s been a lot of times where I’ll have a little tip in the bat; I’ve done it for a few years. But I just kind of like where it’s at now, in a set position and ready to go. I think sometimes it wasn’t firing from the same spot every time. That could have been a factor in not being as accurate.” — O’Brien

Backstory

Olson is in his second season with Atlanta, which signed the first baseman to an eight-year, $168 million extension last March a day after acquiring him in a trade with the Oakland Athletics. The 29-year-old two-time All-Star’s previous career high for home runs in a season was 39 in 2021.

The Braves retired Jones’ No. 25 in a pregame ceremony Saturday. The 10-time Gold Glove winner tallied 368 of his 434 career home runs during his 12 seasons with Atlanta.

Required reading

(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)

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