Braves' Matt Olson shuts down injury concerns after breaking out of slump in win over Red Sox

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Braves' Matt Olson shuts down injury concerns after breaking out of slump in win over Red Sox originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Atlanta Braves are coming off just their second series loss of the season after dropping a series to the Washington Nationals over the weekend. The offense went ice cold and struggled to generate runs throughout the series.

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Matt Olson, who had been red hot to begin the season, entered his first real slump of the year. Some fans believed he may have been injured after he was visibly in pain during a game last week. However, manager Walt Weiss made it clear he did not think it was a major concern.

“He says it happens from time to time on a swinging miss or a check swing, where hyper extends that elbow,” Weiss said. “But like I said, it’s happened to him before. It’s never been a long-term issue.”

Finally, on Tuesday night at Fenway Park, Olson got back on track with a two-run home run that tied the game. The blast appeared to spark the offense and get Atlanta rolling again.

“Among the good, Matt Olson hit a two-run homer in the 5th inning. It was his first homer since May 10th, an unusual power drought for the slugger, and that plus his recent slump had some worried about a potential injury,” Braves Today’s Lindsay Crosby wrote.

With Olson finally breaking out of his slump, it also seemed to pull the Braves out of their offensive struggles. Atlanta can now breathe a sigh of relief after rediscovering some momentum in Boston. Following the game, Olson was asked whether his slump was connected to the elbow issue, and he quickly shut down the speculation.

“It was just coincidental,” Olson said. “I was just off-balance with some swings and reaching for balls. If I’d have been on time for the pitch, it wouldn’t have happened.”

Over the course of a long season, slumps are inevitable. Still, because of the timing of the elbow scare, it was easy for people to speculate about a possible injury. Olson taking accountability and admitting he was simply struggling says a lot about his mindset as a player.

Getting Olson back to being the extra-base-hit machine he normally is would be massive for Atlanta as it looks to win another series on Wednesday. The Braves struggled offensively over the weekend, but it appears the bats may finally be waking back up. Olson has already shown just how streaky he can be when he catches fire.

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