Olson's red-hot bat among 1st series highlights

ATLANTA -- Having won last year’s World Series after not producing a winning record until August, the Braves aren’t going to be overly concerned about early-season results. But as they opened the 2022 season by splitting a four-game series against the Reds, they gained a better feel for how these next couple weeks might unfold.

After bouncing back from Thursday’s Opening Day loss with a pair of wins, the Braves watched Ian Anderson struggle in Sunday afternoon’s 6-3 loss at Truist Park. Matt Olson’s first home run for Atlanta wasn’t enough to ruin the impressive debut of Cincinnati's heralded prospect Hunter Greene. But it did cap a memorable first series for the Braves’ new first baseman.

“I think there were a lot of positives to build on,” manager Brian Snitker said. “There’s a lot of guys we weren’t real familiar with that we’re getting a lot more familiar with. I think there were a lot of good things that happened this weekend.”

Here are some things Braves fans may have liked and disliked about the first series.

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Smooth arrival
It didn’t take Olson long to prove he wouldn’t be bothered by the pressures of replacing Freddie Freeman and playing for his hometown team. The suburban Atlanta native went 8-for-14 with two doubles and a homer through his first four games. In the process, he showed why the Braves were willing to part ways with some top prospects to acquire him in a trade with the A’s.

Olson’s first home run was a fifth-inning solo shot against Greene’s 101 mph fastball. The liner over the center-field wall was just the third homer hit by a Braves player against a pitch thrown 100 mph or harder dating to 2008, per Statcast. The others were hit by Eddie Rosario against the Dodgers’ Brusdar Graterol on Sept. 1, 2021, and Chipper Jones against Joel Zumaya on June 26, 2010.

“It feels good,” Olson said. “You want to have good at-bats and barrel stuff up. Doing it against high velocity is always a good sign.”

Five of the 11 balls Olson put in play had an exit velocity of 105 mph or higher. Really, the only thing he might like to erase from his opening weekend might have been being thrown out at the plate twice on Saturday.

"If anybody wrote in the scouting report from Oakland that I was fast, they lied,” Olson said.

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Anderson's velocity
As Anderson issued five walks and yielded five runs on three hits in just 2 2/3 innings, his four-seam fastball averaged just 93.2 mph. The average dipped to 92.9 mph with the 10 fastballs he threw during the third inning. Anderson averaged 94.6 mph with this pitch last year and 94.1 mph in 2020.

“I feel like I’m still trying to get everything together and get my delivery together,” Anderson said.

Maybe Anderson’s velo drop is just an early season product of a short Spring Training. But this is not an encouraging development for a guy who leans heavily on his changeup. There was a difference of just 5.7 mph between the average velo of his fastball (93.2) and changeup (87.6). There was closer to a 7-8 mph difference the previous two years. But the 23-year-old hurler believes his biggest need is to remain patient while regaining more consistent command of both the fastball and changeup.

“You have to establish the fastball and you have to establish other pitches,” Anderson said. “I don’t think I did a very good job of that. That’s kind of what led to the lack of [the Reds chasing the changeup].”

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Rotation potential
Charlie Morton looked like an ace during his first start since breaking his leg and Kyle Wright looked like a brand-new man during Saturday’s strong start. Yeah, Anderson and Max Fried stumbled. But each of the eight hits that Fried allowed on Thursday was a single and four of them had an exit velocity of 69.2 mph or lower. If Wright builds on his success and Anderson starts to get better over the next couple weeks, the champs shouldn’t have any reason to be concerned about their rotation.

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Slow starts
Rosario and Ozzie Albies will share the leadoff duties until Ronald Acuña Jr. returns in May. They combined to go 2-for-26 with five walks during this first series. Dansby Swanson struck out in eight of his first 12 at-bats.

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Rocket Fire
It might be time to stop thinking about Spencer Strider as a starter, a role that really only would have allowed him to develop secondary pitches. Strider looked ready to be a primary setup man as he struck out five of the six batters he faced over two perfect innings on Opening Day.

Strider averaged 99.3 mph with 18 fastballs and the Reds whiffed with seven of 11 swings against this fastball. The young hurler went from Low-A ball to the Majors during his only full professional season. He now looks ready to be the right-handed asset the Braves need within a bullpen filled with a trio of left-handed setup men -- Will Smith, Tyler Matzek and A.J. Minter.