Matt Olson named a Silver Slugger finalist

Louisville Slugger announced Thursday position and team finalists for the 2026 Silver Slugger Awards.

Braves’ first baseman Matt Olson is one of four finalists among National League first basemen, joining Jake Bauers of the Brewers, Alec Burleson of the Cardinals and Rafael Devers of the Giants.

Olson, an All-Star this past season, hit .251 with 41 home runs and 93 RBIs. He had an OPS of .823 and an OPS+ of 123 while accounting for 314 total bases and 99 runs scored.

Among NL first baseman, Olson ranked first in home runs, total bases and runs scored, fourth in RBIs, fifth in OPS, seventh in OPS+ and eighth in average. The 32-year-old Olson has never won a Silver Slugger despite being a finalist four of the past five seasons.

The Braves are third all-time with 41 Silver Sluggers, trailing the Yankees and Red Sox for most. The team has not had a winner since Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023.

The Braves were the last team to feature a Silver Slugger winning pitcher (Max Fried, 2021) before the implementation of the universal designated hitter. The Braves were also the first winner of the team award in 2022, and are one of only two NL teams to have won that honor.

Louisville Slugger introduced the Silver Slugger Award in 1980. For 46 years, Louisville Slugger has been responsible for awarding the game’s best offensive players.

Position finalists and winners are determined by a vote of managers and coaches who cast ballots in their respective leagues for players at each position. Each MLB team receives four votes: the manager and three coaches of the team’s choice. Votes are based on a combination of offensive statistics including OPS, OPS+, home runs, RBIs, batting average, total bases and runs, as well as the managers’ and coaches’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value.

This year, the top two vote-getters at each position (top six in the outfield) were named finalists. The next five highest vote-getters in each league were also named finalists at their respective positions.