Much of the league has been focused on Aaron Judge’s stunner of a first half, Rhys Hoskins’ surprise talent and home run hitting, Aaron Judge’s depressing second half, and Giancarlo Stanton’s resurgence.
Matt Olson’s bat: So hot right now
He’s homered in four straight games and is having a great September.
Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images
Which is all well and good, but many are missing out on one player who is also on a tear right now in Matt Olson.
The A’s aren’t going to make the playoffs, but that hasn’t made a difference to Olson, who has absolutely gone off since being called up to the majors in early August. He now has 11 home runs in September alone and 22 on the season.
He’s also hitting .266/.354/.651 with a 1.005 OPS and a 163 OPS+. So yeah, not too shabby at all.
Among just a few of the statistics that let you know how great a few months Olson’s had:
- He’s had four separate instances of homering three games in a row.
- Until Monday night, no Oakland player had hit a home run four games in a row since Coco Crisp in 2013.
- He tied Mark McGwire for most home runs through 65 career games in franchise history.
- His home run on Monday made him only the third rookie player ever to hit 14 home runs in a 20-game period — for Olson that’s since August 27th. He follows Mark McGwire (1987) and Rudy York (1937).
- In the past 30 seasons, he and fellow 2017 offensive powerhouse Giancarlo Stanton are the only people to hit 20 dingers at the major and minor league levels in the same season.
All that, and he’s only been in the major leagues for 55 games. His less-seen performance on the West Coast is shamefully under-appreciated by a lot of fans.
There are still things Olson can improve on as he spends time in the league. But for the A’s, who are in full rebuilding mode and will rely on their young talents a lot next year, Olson has been a great addition late in the season.
It’s too bad he hasn’t been an nearly as much of an addition to fans’ viewing habits as well. You won’t regret it if you get on the Matt Olson train now.
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