Braves Rumors: Marcell Ozuna trade bait, Vaughn Grissom confidence, Olson vs Freeman
By Mark Powell
Braves Rumors: Matt Olson has replaced Freddie Freeman and then some
Most franchises don’t get over losing an icon like Freddie Freeman. Most franchises aren’t these Atlanta Braves.
For a market like Atlanta, Freeman was a rock. Normally, failing to reach a contract extension with a player of his caliber results in some sort of setback. Yet, Alex Anthopoulos replaced Freeman with a player of similar work ethic and attitude in Olson. Most teams don’t get that lucky, wrote Thomas Carranate of Yanks Go Yard while comparing Atlanta to his Yankees:
“The Braves don’t have unforgiving media coverage. They don’t have a vicious fanbase. They don’t attract players whose sole goal is making the most money imaginable (which, in some cases, is the reality for the Yankees). Only once in a generation will Atlanta be able to get away with shunning a franchise legend like Freddie Freeman (most teams do not recover from such a decision).”
Yet, Atlanta had Freeman’s replacement in waiting days before he signed with Los Angeles, and Olson is a Georgia native. It was perfect. While they are different people, in many ways Olson and Freeman are similar in how they go about their business.
“Obviously with Freddie leaving, big shoes to fill,” Riley said, per FOX Sports. “And to me, [Olson’s] done a great job over there. I think this year he’s really been able to find his footing and play his game. I feel like last year he put a little pressure on himself. And this year he’s just going out there and trusting his ability and trusting his work.”
Brian Snitker went as far as to call Olson ‘boring’ in how he handles being a professional athlete. While last season featured some down numbers for his standards, Olson has hit his way back onto the scene and into the NL MVP conversation. He has more home runs than Shohei Ohtani, and won player of the week the same week Michael Lorenzen threw a no-hitter.
“Coming back home has a lot more to it than people think,” Snitker said. “There’s a lot more pressure in that. He was balancing a lot of balls in the air last year and I think he did an unbelievable job.”
Safe to say he’s gotten over that pressure and then some.