Love for Olson’s glove
First baseman impresses with more than just homers
LOS ANGELES — Matt Chapman is the A’s undisputed king of defense, but one day late in spring training, the third baseman took on his longtime friend, first baseman Matt Olson, in a fielding contest. Olson won. “We had a little competition, every groundball you missed, you owed the other one $20,” Olson said of the 15-minute session of hard grounders from coaches Matt Williams and Mark Kotsay. “I might have missed two and he missed three, so it was just $20, but he’s going to be mad about it.”
“It’s a sore subject,” Chapman said. “We’d never done that before, but we pushed each other to get better. I told him that I was helping make him better and that I let him win. I wish I’d let him win.”
Chapman is known for his glove and has gotten off to a hot start at the plate. Olson is known for his power — he hit 47 homers combined between Oakland and Triple-A Nashville last year. In the early going this season, he’s been
“I feel first base in general is overlooked on the defensive side a little bit, but I take a lot of pride in it.” Matt Olson, A’s first baseman
turning in especially great work in the field.
“Matt is definitely underrated,” said bench coach Ryan Christenson, who managed Olson throughout most of his minor-league career. “He’s a great first baseman. He’s got good hands. He’s a big target. For a right-handed first baseman, he’s one of the most accurate throwers I’ve seen to start a double play.
“He’s got good feel for positioning; he’s just a smart player. And he’s very good at pop-ups as well, so in Oakland, as far as having two guys on the corners who can cover the foul territory and make great plays up against the walls, they’re going to save some runs.”
Chapman was second in baseball with 19 defensive runs saved last year. In just 38 games at first base last season, Olson notched four defensive runs saved. Occasionally, the person he’s saving is the opposite corner infielder, helping boost Chapman’s defensive stats.
“Some of my throws when I let them go might go a little high and Matt has no problem getting there,” Chapman said. “He can get anything. He’s a great target. He moves his feet well. I love throwing to him. I think his defense goes under the radar because of how easy he makes it look.”
Olson, 24, is 6-foot-5, 241 pounds, but he’s not lacking in range and moves gracefully around the bag. Despite his height, he has no problem digging balls in the dirt.
“I like to tell the infielders I play with I’d rather have it low than high because I’m confident in my picking abilities,” he said. “Any chance I get to help out the other guys, if they make a bad throw or something, I’ll do it. I feel first base in general is overlooked on the defensive side a little bit, but I take a lot of pride in it.”
Williams, the A’s third-base coach, is impressed with what he has seen, and he pointed to Olson’s baseball smarts as the key.
“The feel he has for such a young player — it goes unnoticed,” Williams said. “In our second game, the ball got away in left field, and Matt came all the way from first and picked an in-between hop to keep (the Angels’) Justin Upton at first. Nobody notices those things.
“His understanding of where he needs to be — the brain is much more advanced than you’d expect at this young age. It’s like he’s been playing for a very long time. The physical skills are fantastic, but the mentality is important too, and he has that.”
Olson has expanded duties as a result.
“Generally, you’re not as athletic on that corner, but we have cutoffs and relays where Matt is the lead guy on a tandem relay, and the reason is because he’s so skilled,” Williams said. “He knows exactly what to do and when.”
Olson turned in several eye-popping plays in the team’s first several games, most notably ranging to his right for a grounder by the Angels’ Kole Calhoun and making a slick glove flip to starter Sean Manaea, who barehanded the toss en route to first.
“It seems like every play he has extreme confidence in and he knows exactly what to do,” said Manaea, who has played with Olson since the Double-A level. “I haven’t seen him get misplayed on a single ball yet. I definitely think he could be a Gold Glover.”
One misfire by an infielder and a game can turn quickly. The A’s lost Friday’s game at Anaheim on just such a play. Chapman threw wide right of Olson, and two runs scored to tie the game. At the Coliseum, the sizable foul territory makes a good first baseman especially valuable.
“You talk about the dynamic of this ballpark — as an infielder, you miss a throw over to first base and it’s two bases,” manager Bob Melvin said. “To have a tall, athletic guy that can not only make you feel good about throwing it high but throwing it low, he’s as good as anyone I’ve seen over there.
“It’s maybe overshadowed by the fact the guy on the other corner plays great defense, but it’s just as significant for us.”