The Oakland A’s are a small-market team that often plays late at night, so half the USA doesn’t know much about them. However, any team in the majors would be happy to have A’s first baseman Matt Olson. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Olson’s 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Matt Olson MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- Most home runs of any batter: Olson is +2200
- AL MVP Award: Olson is +4000
Last season, Olson missed 34 games while on the injured list early in the year but still hit 36 home runs and drove in 91 runs while batting .267 in 127 games. He had career highs in home runs, RBI and batting average and matched his high in extra base hits (62).
Olson tied for seventh in the American League in home runs. Among first basemen, his 36 home runs led the AL, ranked third in the majors and was seventh in Oakland history. He joined Mark McGwire (eight times) and Jason Giambi (twice) as the only first baseman in Oakland history with 30 or more home runs. Olson ranked second among AL first basemen in RBI (91).
In addition, Olson ranked fifth in the AL in go-ahead RBI (26) and tied for eighth in go-ahead home runs (14). The A’s compiled a 15-19 (.442) record while he was on the 10-day IL from March 27 to May 6 following a right hamate excision. He was reinstated May 7 and Oakland went 82-44 (.651) following his return.
As the A’s made a playoff push in September, hit .263 with nine home runs and 23 RBI in 25 games in the month. That tied for third in the American League in RBI and tied for fourth in home runs. Olson leads the majors with 27 home runs in September over the last three years and ranks second with 64 RBI.
Defensively in 2019, Olson led MLB first basemen in defensive runs saved (13). He also led AL first basemen total chances (1121), putouts (1023) and assists (90) and ranked second in fielding percentage (.993) and double plays (95). The assists tied for seventh most in Oakland history by a first baseman and were the most since McGwire had 101 in 1991.
Olson ranked among the top six percent in several 2019 metrics like barrel percentage and exit velocity. He hit more than 50 percent of his balls hard in 2019 – with an exit velocity at 95 mph or higher — something only five other players did last year.
“He has pretty good leverage and a ton of power,” Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. “And, as important as anything, there’s no panic in him. Rarely do you see him show any emotion one way or the other. If you have a bad day at the big-league level, sometimes guys can really be affected by it. He doesn’t let any of that stuff get to him.”
This offseason, the Athletics and Matt Olson agreed to a one-year, $603,500 contract for 2020. This is the final year in which the Athletics will get the 25-year-old slugger on such a minimal deal as he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the first time next season.
Olson hit .200 (5-for-25) with two doubles, one home run, four RBI, nine strikeouts, five walks and four runs across 11 Cactus League games before spring training was suspended. Could he win the 2020 home run title?
Only four times in half a century have the A’s won an outright MLB homer title. Jose Canseco did it twice with 42 in 1988 and 44 in 1991, McGwire did it once with 52 in 1998 and Davis did it in 2018. As a rookie in 1987, McGwire did tie for the MLB lead with the Cubs’ Andre Dawson, both hitting 49. The Oakland Coliseum isn’t very homer-friendly.
