Braves’ Matt Olson has full circle moment in return to Oakland

OAKLAND — For the jaded, Matt Olson in Atlanta Braves’ navy and red manning first base at the Coliseum won’t shock the system. The Oakland A’s have seen many of their former stars in the visiting dugout.

But Olson’s return is a full circle moment. The first baseman that was instrumental in opening the A’s recent contention window is already facing the next group of A’s expected to do the same.

Olson bats fourth in Tuesday’s series opener against Cole Irvin. Shea Langeliers, a central part of the A’s return for Olson, bats seventh. While Olson chatted it up pre-game with the handful of familiar faces — Chad Pinder, Tony Kemp and Ramón Laureano — the home dugout was overflowing with faces that weren’t on the 2021 team.

The A’s are throwing a few young players into the fire, looking for their next generation of stars. Olson, called up at age 22 in 2016, remembers when he was in their shoes alongside the likes of Matt Chapman and Pinder.

“There’s a decent core of us that came up in ’17 and started getting our chances,” Olson said. “We took some pride in being the group that could make a winning culture. The next year we won 97 games. It was cool to come up with the same guys, Chap and Chad.”

As Olson evolved, so did the A’s. He started his Oakland career out of his comfort zone and boxed into lesser responsibility — relegated to a few rough games in right field and a platoon role, not to face left-handed pitchers.

As the A’s challenged for division titles and wild card berths, Olson became a Gold Glove first baseman and one of the game’s most underrated power hitters — with better power numbers against lefties than righties in 2021.

“Him being part of the growth that took place from ’17 on and the adversity he went through in ’16 when we put him out in right field when we had a first baseman named Billy Butler and Danny Valencia, we got to see how he continued to grind and grow and put his head down,” A’s manager, and former quality control coach Mark Kotsay said. “He started out not hitting against lefties and now he’s hitting against lefties better than he is against righties from a power perspective. He’s a player that they could bring in and have impact not just on the field, but on the clubhouse as well.

“For Matt, he has all the physical tools and he’s continuing to get better. He’s going to get better than he is now.”

The baseball world learned of Olson, the sweet-swinging left-hander, during the A’s three straight postseason trips from 2018 to 2020. When the A’s made clear they weren’t going to pay for their rising stars with rising price tags, Olson was one of the most coveted player up for grabs on the A’s roster.

The trade that sent Olson to the Atlanta Braves for a prospect haul on March 16 this offseason shocked the baseball world. Olson would replace beloved Brave Freddie Freeman at first base, with a bit of drama to follow between the Braves and Freeman. But Olson soon signed a $168 million contract, the largest in Braves history, to stay with the team he grew up rooting for. He’s winning the fanbase over. A feeling A’s fans know well.

“This is a new chapter and I’m thankful for everything the A’s did for me,” Olson said. “They drafted me and gave me an opportunity to start my big league career. I’m just as excited for this new chapter.”

Olson models his swing off Braves great Chipper Jones, his childhood idol. That swing has gotten him far with his new team. This year he’s hit 27 home runs (ninth most in the National League) and posted a .814 OPS, well above the league average. He even became the first Atlanta Brave to hit a home run (a grand slam, no less) into the Alleghany river at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

The Braves are battling the New York Mets for first place in the National League East. He’s gotten to visit former A’s teammates Mark Canha and Chris Bassitt plenty in their many division rival series.

Olson is playing at the top of his game for one of the game’s best teams that’s also thrust young players such as Vaughn Grissom into action with second baseman Ozzie Albies down for the season.

“Age doesn’t matter if you can come up and play. That’s something that us young guys that were here in Oakland a few years ago are thankful for,” Olson said. “A lot of younger guys getting chances and that’s the name of the game. You get the opportunity and try to make the most of it. Oakland has always been a team that doesn’t hesitate to give young guys chances.”