Olson twirls gem, makes 'statement' in Georgia homecoming

ATLANTA -- Most Major League pitchers will walk into the clubhouse a little later on their start days to make sure they’re rested before starting their pregame prep. But Reese Olson was standing in the Tigers’ dugout at Truist Park more than four hours before Monday's first pitch, taking in the scene in quiet.

“Just wanted to see the field, kind of what I always do the first time at a park,” Olson said. “Obviously I've been here, but not as a player, so I wanted to see the view from the dugout.”

He grew up a little more than an hour away in Gainesville, and went to Braves games at Turner Field and then here. He became a Rafael Furcal fan after the then-Braves shortstop homered twice on Olson’s birthday. He pitched an inning at Turner Field as part of a high school exhibition game.

Now Olson was getting ready to pitch at Truist Park in an MLB uniform for the visiting team. And he was about to embark on a pitching duel with Max Fried in front of so many family and friends that he lost count, a few hundred according to his parents.

“We didn't know half of them were coming,” his dad, Lee Olson, told Bally Sports Detroit. “We've just been getting texts every day for the last six weeks.”

Gainesville proclaims itself the “Poultry Capital of the World” due to the numerous chicken processing plants in the area, and even has a Poultry Park featuring a chicken statue. For six scoreless innings, Olson carved up Braves hitters, trading zeros with Fried to keep the Tigers in another low-scoring battle.

Unlike many similar games, Olson didn’t take a tough-luck loss. But he also didn’t get a win for his efforts. Ozzie Albies’ eighth-inning homer off Shelby Miller sank the Tigers in a 2-1 loss, but Olson provided the kind of outing he and his family won’t soon forget.

Olson won’t forget it because of the struggles that led into it. His family won’t forget it because of more obvious reasons.

“It's something me and him dreamed of from the time we were playing in the backyard,” Reese’s brother, Griffin Olson, told Bally Sports Detroit. “I'm probably more proud that it's him and not me.”

Olson had given up 28 hits over 14 2/3 innings in his previous three starts. He was 0-3 with a 10.43 ERA in June, having allowed more earned runs (17) than he had given up in his previous 10 starts this season combined (12).

He didn’t need a mechanical overhaul, he said, just a minor adjustment in the lower half of his delivery. He also needed to watch where he was missing in his location, limiting how often he left pitches over the plate. If he’s aiming for the outside corner, better to miss off the plate and take the ball than over it and suffer worse.

After some early misses in his first inning, he was ahead in counts for most of the night, leaving a dangerous Braves lineup guessing which of his offspeed and breaking pitches they were going to see.

Marcell Ozuna had crushed a 3-2 fastball off the fence in right-center for a two-out double in the first inning after Olson couldn’t finish off a 1-2 count. Next time up, Olson put him in an 0-2 hole, couldn’t get him to chase off the plate, then fanned him on a changeup on the inside edge.

Five of Olson’s final six outs came via strikeout, finishing with four different pitches. Once Matt Olson fanned on a 93 mile-per-hour fastball at the top of the zone, the righty was done for the night at exactly 100 pitches and eight strikeouts.

“That’s an impressive outing against that lineup,” Mark Canha said. “It was gutsy. We know what Reese can do, but it felt like Reese made a statement tonight.”

It was a statement not only for what he can do, but where he’s from. He deserves more run support than he’s getting in many starts this season, but the support he had in the stands at a visiting park was impressive.

“Thankful to have so many people come out and support me,” he said, “but happy to get back on track after struggling for a few. Looking forward to building on it.”