Olson is home run-hitting his way into the AL MVP conversation
Matt Olson has been moving steadily into the American League MVP race and as the team’s clear-cut All-star. His performance in the A’s 6-3 win against the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon catapulted him squarely into the frontrunner’s race.
Plenty of season is left to play, but Olson has not only been the A’s steadiest source of power and offense, but statistically one of the best bats in the American League.
“Oly is world class,” A’s starter Chris Bassitt said. “Every year he should be an All-star. What he’s doing now is not a surprise to anyone in the room...he should be an MVP candidate every single year.”
Olson hit two home runs against the Royals. The first came in the third inning off his bat with a 107mph exit velocity, adding a run onto the A’s three-run lead earned on Matt Chapman’s home run in the first inning and Elvis Andrus and Mark Canha’s pair of twoout RBI hits in the third inning.
“Obviously Vlad Jr. is having an unbelievable year at first base, too,” Bassitt said. “Those two will have fun trying to figure out who will start first base. But Oly is no-doubt an All-star and, my gosh, I don’t know what else you can say. Gold Glove first baseman that will hit for average and home runs. I don’t know what else you could possibly want.”
It was Olson’s second two-home run game of the year and 10th of his career. In the context of Oakland A’s history, Olson’s 121 home runs in
480 games is second most to Mark Mcgwire’s 122 over that span. José Canseco had 104, Matt Chapman 89 and Eric Chávez had 84 over their first 480 games.
In a league where power is key, Olson is sidled up with Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. statistically. His .984 OPS and his 18 home runs rank second to Guerrero’s (1.137 OPS, 21 home runs).
Opposing coaches and analysts will look to Olson’s advanced metrics as an indication that he’s settled into a role as one of the game’s best hitters. His 10.3 barrels per plate appearance ranks ninth in baseball — in other words, he’s getting a barrel on the ball frequently. His 93 mph average exit velocity ranks fifth, narrowly behind others by mere fractions. New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge ranks first with a 96mph average.
But Olson has always demonstrated power, but his consistency has shown through as he learns and adjusts to opposing pitchers’ thinking. Breaking balls and pitches on the outer half that he use to roll over he’s now stroking the other way or up the middle for hits. With more pitches in his wheelhouse, Olson’s strikeout rate plummeted from 31.4% in 2020 to 17.2% in 2021. His averaged jumped
from .195 last year to .289 this year.
Olson has said throughout the season he’s mentally shifted away from thinking too mechanically and at the plate and “digging too deep” into video in order to be more present in his at-bats. He’s also changed his pre-game routine a bit to include a red machine that simulates high spin rate four-seam fastballs.
“I naturally have a long swing, and you can’t cheat it,” Olson said. “The combination of those two things have done me well.”
As manager Bob Melvin has said of Olson and the league-wide batting average trend, “A .270 average is the new .350.” The league’s batting average has been trending down as more pitchers throw high-velocity fastballs — the average in baseball is .238, on pace to be the among the lowest in modern baseball history. Should Olson keep up this pace, he should be in the MVP conversation. He’s squarely in the All-star conversation.
“If someone would sit here and say they didn’t want to be an All-star, they’d be lying,” Olson said. “I take it day-by-day, there’s a lot of baseball left this season. I’m not going to set my sights too far down the road on things that are out of my control.”
Chris Bassitt grinds out another solid start: Coincidentally a few minutes later, Bassitt said he’s not even thinking about making the All-star team.
“I never have once or will play for individual awards,” Bassitt said. “I’ll throw my ERA to 7.00 if it means getting to the World Series. I don’t give a damn about individual stuff.”
He said he would be honored to make an All-star team or win an individual award, of course. With a 3.43 ERA, he is definitely a candidate as well.
“On days when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he finds it for particular
at-bats and that’s what makes really good pitchers now. You’re not going to go out there with your best stuff all the time, and you’re going to have baserunners when you don’t. But it’s finding a pitch and executing when you really need to. And that’s what he did today.”
His statistical achievements have a lot to do with his individual growth. Bassitt didn’t have his best command on Sunday — the three walks allowed is the most he’s issued since he walked five against the Arizona Diamondbacks in April — but he found ways to grind through 5 2/3 innings.
He threw 41 pitches through two innings thanks to an arduous second inning in which the Royals scored one of their two runs on a hit that deflected off Bassitt’s “padded area,” Melvin said, “It hit his butt.”
Bassitt dove for the deflected ball and tried to make a play at home, but catcher Sean Murphy was well in front of the plate pointing to make a play at first base. He laid face down on the ground for a few moments as trainers emerged from the dugout. He was fine, just confused.
“It wasn’t the pain that I was laying on the ground,” Bassitt said. “It was more so, ‘Murph what in the hell are you doing out here because my play was at home plate there.’ But, natural reaction is he probably said, ‘The ball is on the ground and you got smoked and have no idea where it’s at, so let’s get the ball.’”
Bassitt was an out shy of completing a six-inning outing, instead issuing a final walk on four pitches with two outs in the sixth. He left the game with a pair of runners on and two earned runs — the other run, an Andrew Benintendi opposite field home run — and Yusmeiro Petit cleaned up the mess using just two pitches. Bassitt struck out five and allowed five hits.