Matt Olson

Matthew Kent Olson (born March 29, 1994) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB).

For persons of a similar name, see Matthew Olson (disambiguation).
Matt Olson
Olson with the Athletics in 2017
Oakland Athletics – No. 28
First baseman / Right fielder
Born: (1994-03-29) March 29, 1994
Atlanta, Georgia
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 12, 2016, for the Oakland Athletics
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.245
Home runs103
Runs batted in262
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Olson is the second son of Scott and Lee Olson. His older brother, Zachary Olson, pitched for the Harvard Crimson.[1] Olson attended Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia, where he played first base and pitched for the Parkview Panthers, leading them to back-to-back state championships in 2011 and 2012.[2] Olson finished his high school career with a .431 batting average, 44 doubles, 45 home runs, 168 RBIs, and a fielding percentage over 0.980. He holds the Parkview High School and Gwinnett County records for wins and RBIs. His jersey, number 21, was retired by Parkview High School in February of 2019.[3] After graduating high school with honors in 2012, Olson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.[4][5] He had committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University, but ultimately decided to forego his commitment to the Commodores and signed with Oakland.[6]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Olson made his professional debut that season for the Arizona League Athletics and also played for the Vermont Lake Monsters that season. In total, he played in 50 games and hit .282/.352/.521 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs. In 2013, Olson played for the Beloit Snappers.[7] In 134 games, he hit .225/.326/.435, but still hit 23 home runs while driving in 93 RBIs.

Olson played the 2014 season with the Stockton Ports.[8] Throughout the season he was among the home run leaders in Minor League Baseball, as during the season he batted .262/.404/.543 with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs in 138 games, and he led all minor leaguers with 500 or more plate appearances with a walk percentage of 18.5%.[9][10] He played the 2015 season with the Midland RockHounds where he hit .249 with 17 home runs and 75 RBIs in 133 games. Olson played the entire 2016 minor league season with the Nashville Sounds. In 131 games, he batted .235 with 17 home runs and 60 RBIs.

2016

The Athletics purchased Olson's contract on September 12, 2016, and he was called up to the major league club.[11] He played in 11 games for Oakland.

2017

In 2017, Olson split time between Nashville and Oakland. In 79 games for Nashville he batted .272 with 23 home runs and 60 RBIs,[12] and in 59 games for Oakland, he hit .259 with 24 home runs and 45 RBIs. With Oakland he hit 13 in the month of September (a rookie record) and one in five straight games. It was tied for third-most home runs in a player's first 65 career games in MLB history.[13]

2018

Olson spent all of 2018 with Oakland, playing in all 162 games. On April 18, Olson hit his first career walk-off, an RBI single to secure a 12-11 comeback win over the Chicago White Sox. On September 26, he hit his first career grand slam in a 9-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.[14] Olson finished his 2018 campaign batting .247 with 29 home runs and 84 RBIs.[15] He also won his first Gold Glove Award, leading all AL first basemen with 14 defensive runs saved and an 11.6 ultimate zone rating.[16]

2019

Olson played in both games of the Opening Series in Tokyo, Japan. During the second game on March 21, he was removed from the game after he felt pain in his right hand. The next day, he underwent successful surgery to remove the hamate bone from the hand, returning to the lineup on May 7.[17]

In 2019, he batted .267/.351/.545. On defense, he had a 13 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the best in the major leagues among first basemen.[18] He received his second consecutive Gold Glove Award for his defensive performance.[19]

2020

Olson struggled in the season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, batting .195, although he led the Oakland A's in games played, home runs & RBI.

References
  1. "35 - Zack Olson". Harvard Crimson. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  2. Friedlander, David. "Olson comes up big in the clutch for Parkview". Gwinnett Daily Post.
  3. ChristineTroyke (February 7, 2019). "Parkview retires Matt Olson's baseball number". Gwinnett Prep Sports - Gwinnett Daily Post. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  4. "Comp picks yield value in prep ranks for A's".
  5. "Parkview's Matt Olson Picked by the A's". Lilburn-Mountain Park, GA Patch. 5 June 2012.
  6. "One-time Vanderbilt commitment Matt Olson on track with Sounds". The Tennessean.
  7. Barry, John. "Athletics' No. 5 overall prospect brings big bat to Beloit lineup". GazetteXtra.
  8. Curtright, Guy. "MINOR LEAGUE NOTES: Parkview grad Matt Olson breaks out". Gwinnett Daily Post.
  9. "Matt Olson » Statistics » Batting - FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
  10. Record, The. "Ports' Olson in contention to win home run award". recordnet.com.
  11. Slusser, usan (September 12, 2016). "A's call up prospects Matt Olson, Renato Nunez". San Francisco Gate. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  12. "Matt Olson Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  13. "A's Matt Olson makes up for lost time with home run binge". Sporting News. 19 September 2017.
  14. "Matt Olson hits 1st career grand slam in win". MLB.com.
  15. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com.
  16. "Golden Corners: Chapman, Olson win first Gold Glove awards". NBCS Bay Area. 4 November 2018.
  17. Simon, Andrew (March 22, 2019). "Matt Olson undergoes surgery on hand". MLB.com. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  18. "Major League Leaderboards » 2019 » First Basemen » Fielding Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". Fangraphs.com. 2019-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  19. "A's Matt Chapman, Matt Olson win second career AL Gold Glove awards". NBC Sports. November 3, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
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