Building His Resume
Matt Olson was already a Georgia baseball legend before he ever reached the majors. A standout at Parkview High School, Olson committed to Vanderbilt before ultimately choosing professional baseball after being selected in the first round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Athletics.
Across five seasons with the Athletics, Olson ranked inside the top ten among qualified first basemen in slugging percentage (.511), wRC+ (132), home runs (142), hard-hit rate (49.4%), and fWAR (14.2).
Once traded to Atlanta, his first season felt relatively quite by Olson’s standards. He posted a 3.1 fWAR season with an .802 OPS and 121 wRC+. Then came 2023, where he exploded for career highs with 139 RBIs, 54 home runs, and a .604 slugging percentage while helping power one of the most historic offenses baseball has seen.
From 2022 through the 2025 season, Olson established himself as a top two first baseman in baseball right alongside Freddie Freeman.
Metric1B RankH638#5HR146#2R389#2RBI435#2AVG.261#15OBP.354#7SLG.505#3OPS.859#3wRC+134#5wOBA366#2fWAR17.0#2
Olson was named to two All-Star teams during that stretch and added both a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove to his resume. The most impressive part may not even be the production. It’s his availability, playing in all 162 games in each of those four seasons.
Through the first 56 games of the 2026 season, Olson has not slowed down. He is slashing .259/.341/.546 with an .888 OPS, a 145 wRC+, and he already sits at 2.3 fWAR. Digging deeper, the underlying metrics fully support the production. Olson ranks in the 90th-percentile or better in expected slugging percentage, average exit velocity, barrel rate, and hard-hit rate.
There is not a single pitch type this season against which Olson owns a negative run value. He has produced at least a .250 average, .500 slugging percentage, and .850 OPS against both right-handed and left-handed pitching, though his numbers against righties are stronger as expected.
Defensively, Olson ranks eighth across all of the MLB with +7 OAA. Among first basemen, the next highest is Michael Busch with +4 OAA.
