There should be no question that Matt Olson will be in the All Star Game. He has easily been the best player on the Oakland A’s this season, a deserving option to head to Colorado. However, it makes sense to keep any possibility of his missing out on his first All Star experience as far away as possible.
To that end, Olson needs more votes to be able to be a part of the next round of the All Star voting. The latest update has him ranked seventh at first base, over 2000 behind Ji-Man Choi for sixth place. Choi, meanwhile, has played 15 games this season.
Matt Olson needs help to make All Star Game
Olson is the A’s leading vote getter with 59,536 votes. That seventh spot is also the highest any A’s player is ranked in the vote, as only Jed Lowrie (eighth) is above tenth. Considering the talent on the roster, it is a travesty.
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It is also a travesty that Olson may not get beyond the first round. He has easily been one of the best first basemen in the game, posting a .290/.375/.606 batting line in his 259 plate appearances entering Tuesday, hitting 18 homers and 16 doubles while driving in 48 runs. He has been a key part of the A’s ability to remain atop the division.
Olson is also all over the leaderboard. While he will be overshadowed at first due to likely starter Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Olson has still made a strong case. He ranks second in slugging, OPS, and OPS+, third in total bases (134) and offensive bWAR (2.6), and fourth with 50 runs created and 34 extra base hits.
At this point, Olson is 70,652 votes behind Yuli Gurriel for the third and final spot to move on to Round Two. He would need to pass four other players in the rankings to get there, something that is not entirely impossible. But Olson needs as much help as possible.
Matt Olson is seventh in All Star votes at first base, a pathetic showing thus far. He needs as much help as possible to move on to the next round.