Matt Olson

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

He has previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics.

Matt 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.

Olson finished his high school career with a .431 batting average, 44 doubles, 45 home runs, 168 runs batted in (RBIs), and a fielding percentage over 0.980.

He holds the Parkview High School and Gwinnett County records for wins and RBIs.

Olson was drafted by the Athletics in the first round of the 2012 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut with them in 2016.

After six seasons with the Athletics, he was traded to the Braves prior to the 2022 season and signed an eight-year contract extension.

Olson has won two Gold Glove Awards, a Silver Slugger Award, three Fielding Bible Awards, and was an MLB All-Star in 2021 and 2023.

Olson is the second son of Scott and Lee Olson.

Scott Olson served as his sons' youth baseball coach, until high school.

Matt Olson's older brother, Zack, later pitched for the Harvard Crimson.

After graduating from high school with honors in 2012, Olson was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.

He had committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University, but ultimately decided to forgo his commitment to the Commodores and signed with Oakland.

Olson made his professional debut that season with the Arizona League Athletics and also played for the Vermont Lake Monsters that first season.

In total, he played in 50 games and hit .282/.352/.521 with nine home runs and 45 RBIs.

In 2013, Olson played with the Beloit Snappers.

In 134 games he hit .225/.326/.435 though still hit 23 home runs while driving in 93 RBIs.

Olson played the 2014 season with the Stockton Ports.

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, leading all minor leaguers with 500 or more plate appearances with a walk percentage of 18.5%.

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.

The Athletics purchased Olson's contract on September 12, 2016, and he was called up to the major-league club.

He played in 11 games for Oakland.

In 2017, Olson split time between Nashville and Oakland.

In 79 games for Nashville, he batted .272 with 23 home runs and 60 RBIs, 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.

Olson spent all of 2018 with Oakland, playing 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.

His first walk-off home run came in a game against the Houston Astros on August 17.

On September 26, he hit his first career grand slam in a 9–3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Olson finished his 2018 campaign batting .247 with 29 home runs and 84 RBIs.

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.

His uniform number, No. 21, was retired by Parkview High School in February 2019.

Olson played in both games of the 2019 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.

He batted .267/.351/.545 for the 2019 season.

On defense, he had a 13 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, best among first basemen.