A patented Matt Olson power surge is upon us

Olson’s third-inning solo home run gave the Braves a 2-1 lead over the Padres that they didn’t relinquish on their way to a 7-1 win to even the weekend series at 1-1. The final game is scheduled for Sunday.

It’s way too early to suggest that Olson is on his way to similar pyrotechnics. He did have two overlapping five-in-seven runs in 2024, when his home-run total dropped to 29.

Olson took satisfaction regardless.

“It’s good to start to see some results,” Olson said. “I wouldn’t say it’s perfect – it never is – but to be able to put a barrel on a couple and hit a gap or leave the yard feels good.“

The story Saturday was the sensational second day of Ronald Acuña Jr.’s return from an ACL tear as he homered for the second game in a row. Just as he took a backseat to Acuña in 2023 as he put together the first-ever season of 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases to win National League MVP, Olson played the supporting role despite his own power surge.

Olson, too, was caught up in the stunning show that his teammate has put on after being unable to play for nearly a year and then resumed as though he had never been away.

“Sometimes you’re just born with it, and he definitely was,” Olson said.

Olson has been applying his own gifts. With his recent home run deposits, Olson now has 12 for the season. After a slow start, it left him in a tie for 13th in the majors as of Saturday evening, but there’s plenty of season left.

Olson hit one home run in 57 at-bats in his first 16 games, when he was hitting .193 with an anemic slugging percentage of .298. The Braves were 5-11.

In the 35 games since, he has hit 11 home runs in 132 at-bats. He’s hitting .265 and slugging .561. The Braves are 20-15 over that span.

Saturday, Olson played his 671st consecutive game, the longest active streak in the majors. It’s the 18th longest all-time and the second longest in the 21st century.

The surge is a reward for Olson’s consistency in putting solid wood on the ball. As of Saturday, he was eighth in MLB in barrel percentage and seventh in hard-hit percentage, performance that wasn’t always being rewarded. Before his home-run rampage began May 16, his slugging percentage was .384, 104th in the majors.

At .481 after Saturday’s game, he had climbed to 38th in the majors.

“You just kind of keep running him out there because he’s going to figure it out, he’s going to get hot,” manager Brian Snitker said.

Snitker’s patience with struggling Bravers players earns him the ire of fans with frequency. His standing by closer Raisel Iglesias as he endures his own home-run binge is the most recent example.

At the least, though, Olson is offering evidence that the approach has its merits.

“That guy is such a professional and just takes every day in its own separate entity and he’s the same guy every day he shows up here,” Snitker said. “There’s never any emotional ups and downs. He’s the same guy every day.”

The question with each Braves win and a hint of a breakout is if this is when the club starts to take off. The fact that the team’s record after Saturday was 25-26 would indicate that, to this point, the answer has been no.

But perhaps the combination of Acuña and Olson riding a wave together will make this stretch different.

Maybe it won’t.

But at least it will be fun to watch while it lasts.