A dark horse has appeared in the major league home run game.
Atlanta Braves grandpa Matt Olsen (29) rose to the joint lead in home runs.
Olsen fired his 25th cannon of the season in a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on the 26th (Korean time). He stood shoulder to shoulder with Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.
Olsen hit a three-run homer with two out on first and third base in the top of the sixth inning when the game was tied 3-3. On the ball count 2S, Cincinnati right-hander Ian Jibo's 4th pitch 97.4 mph high fastball drew an arch that went slightly inside the left pole. He drew a large parabola with a launch angle of 35 degrees and an exit velocity of 95.8 mph before dropping to a distance of 378 feet.
Olsen hit 4 homers in 3 consecutive matches on this trip, and recorded 8 homers in 13 games since the match against the Washington Nationals on the 12th. It is a pace that does not drop even compared to Ohtani's 11 home runs in the last 18 games until the game against the Colorado Rockies that day.
Atlanta won 7-6 by holding on to Olsen's homer lead until the end. Olsen, who played as first baseman 4 times and posted 1 hit in 4 at-bats, 3 RBIs and 2 runs, recorded a batting average of 0.236, 25 home runs, 60 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.891. In the NL, he is the only one in home runs and RBIs.
Olsen is a typical big shot, striking out and walking a lot. His 98 strikeouts is tied for third among all hitters in both leagues, and his 80 walks are tied for fifth. 스포츠토토
Born in March 1994, right-handed left-hander Olsen was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the 47th overall pick in the first round of the 2012 draft. Olsen, who boasted a long-running one-shot since his amateur and minor league days, debuted in the big leagues in mid-September 2016, and the following year made his name known by boasting 23 home runs in 79 Triple A games and 24 home runs in 59 major league games.
Olsen was in the limelight in the trade market during his time in Oakland. AFP Yonhap News
After that, he hit 29 → 36 → 14 → 39 → 34 home runs by year, solidifying his image as a giant. In 2021, he hit career highs with a batting average of 0.271, 39 home runs, 111 RBIs, 101 runs scored, and an OPS of 0.911. Not only that, but his defense is so good that he won the American League first baseman Gold Glove for two consecutive seasons from 2018 to 2019.
Power is said to be innate. The average speed of balls hit by Olsen this year is 5th overall with 94.2 mph, and the average home run distance is 15th with 417 feet. His all-season batting average of 54.9 mph or higher heart-hit percentage is the highest since his debut.
In particular, Olsen hit a solo home run of 118.6 feet, the highest batting speed in the major leagues this year, against Luis Sesa in the bottom of the first inning in a home game against Cincinnati on April 12.
Olsen was in the limelight on the trade market in March 2022. At the time, the Oakland club put Olsen on the trade market, who had one year left in his free agent qualification, and rich clubs such as the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers salivated. His move to Atlanta involved Freddie Freeman.
At the time, Atlanta was negotiating with Freeman, an insider free agent. However, Atlanta, which judged that Freeman's demands were too high, gave up the contract and took a sharp turn with the Olsen trade. Atlanta handed over four prospects in their early 20s, including pitchers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes, catcher Shay Langeliers, and outfielder Christian Pache.
In response to this, in June of that year, Freeman even fired his agent, Casey Close, for failing to properly inform him of free agency negotiations. Immediately after acquiring Olsen, Atlanta signed an eight-year, $168 million contract extension.
If the current pace is maintained, Ohtani can hit 51 homers and Olsen can hit 53 homers.