4 Braves who impressed during opening week and 1 who struggled

Matt Olson has looked in MVP form for the Braves to start the season

Matt Olson led baseball in home runs during spring training. The start of the regular season, though, has not stopped him from putting the ball over the fence.

Olson has already notched three dingers over the first six games of the season and has three doubles to match that as well while accruing a team-high seven RBI over that span as well. He’s also slashing an impressive .308/.357/.769. Put simply, he looks like the superstar hitter that Atlanta hoped for when they made the trade with Oakland last offseason.

If there’s one knock on Olson in 2023, it’s that he’s struck out a team-high 12 times already. But with the way he’s mashing when he doesn’t go down on strikes, it’s hard to complain about a player who looks like he too could be a possible NL MVP contender.

Marcel Ozuna has picked up where he left off in 2022, much to Braves fans’ dismay

So much of the offseason was spent talking about how the Braves could get out from under the big Marcel Ozuna contract and his off-field baggage. But when the veteran outfielder and DH showed signs of life in spring training, there was a glimmer of hope that he might turn the narrative about his performance around.

That glimmer is fading quickly. In five games to start the season, Ozuna is an abysmal 1-for-17 at the plate while slashing .059/.200/.235. Granted, his one hit did leave the ballpark with a home run, but that doesn’t erase the way he’s performed otherwise.

Thus far, Eddie Rosario and Kevin Pillar have performed better in limited left-field work for Atlanta while the d’Arnaud-Murphy combo of catcher and DH has far more upside. Ozuna is simply solidifying that this team should be continuing to find ways to get away from him.