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Detroit Tigers' Reese Olson gives family and friends a show in homecoming
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- Detroit Tigers' Reese Olson gives family and friends a show in homecoming
ATLANTA — Detroit Tigers right-hander Reese Olson , who grew up 60 miles from Atlanta in the town of Gainesville, carried the worst three-start stretch of his young career into his homecoming game Monday night against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park.
A few hundred family and friends watched from the stands.
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"It's something me and him dreamed of from the time we were playing in the backyard," said Griffin Olson, Reese's older brother who played college baseball at Piedmont University and now works as the head baseball coach at Chestatee High School, in an interview with Bally Sports Detroit . "I'm probably more proud that it's him and not me."
Olson dominated in his homecoming game in front of family and friends, throwing six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. It was his best start since the end of May.
"I was commanding everything better," Olson said after the Tigers' 2-1 loss to the Braves. "I got ahead in counts a little bit better. It came down to execution, and I executed everything a little bit better. Just getting ahead in counts and trying to put guys away as early as possible."
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Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Truist Park in Atlanta on Monday, June 17, 2024.
Olson posted a 1.92 ERA in first 10 starts, followed by a 10.43 ERA in his previous three starts, when he allowed 18 runs (17 earned runs) on 28 hits across 14⅔ innings. But he moved his season ERA from 3.68 to 3.39 by throwing six scoreless innings in his 14th start.
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"It was a good outing for me," said Olson, who threw 100 pitches. "I'm thankful to have so many people come out and support me. I'm happy to get back on track after struggling for a few. I look forward to building on it."
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Olson is at his best when he mixes all of his pitches and locates them. When he leaves pitches over the plate, especially four-seam fastballs, he typically gets hit hard.
The 24-year-old made a minor adjustment in the lower half of his delivery, cleaning up his command.
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Facing the Braves, Olson threw 24 changeups, 24 sliders, 21 four-seam fastballs, 20 sinkers and 11 curveballs. He evenly mixed his pitches to keep batters off balance and executed. He didn't miss in areas where the Braves could create damage.
"The miss that I want to have is where I'm trying to go in the zone," Olson said. "If I'm trying to go away to a lefty, I want to miss off the plate away instead of tugging it back into their bat. The same thing goes to righties. If I'm trying a sinker in, I want to get it in instead of leaving it over the plate. I did a little bit better of a job that. I didn't have the four-seamers that I yanked over the plate to the lefties at all."
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He recorded 16 whiffs on 47 swings — a 34% whiff rate — with seven changeups, four sliders, two fastballs and three curveballs. His changeup and slider, by far his best pitches, were elite again, in partnership with sinkers to right-handed hitters and four-seam fastball to lefties.
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Catcher Jake Rogers evaluated the good and bad versions of Olson.
"Sometimes, he gets out of the zone and gets in bad counts," Rogers said, "and then he leaves whatever the pitch is over the middle of the plate and then do damage, and then he gets a walk here and there, and then another damage. Having his pitches, trusting them and hitting his spots is a big deal for him."
Rogers helped Olson navigate a big moment in the game, facing National League MVP candidate Marcell Ozuna with a runner on third base and two outs in the third inning.
Olson struck out Ozuna swinging with a middle-in changeup.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Truist Park in Atlanta on Monday, June 17, 2024.
"We went to a lot of (sinkers) there and sped him up," Rogers said. "I figured he was a little late and sitting soft, so we went three heaters in a row, and then we went back to the changeup and got him out front. That's what Reese did all night. It was fast, slow, fast, slow, and then up and in, down and away. It was a good pitching performance."
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To finish his work, Olson generated strikeouts for five of his six outs in the fifth and six innings: Sean Murphy (swinging, slider), Wall (swinging, changeup), Jarred Kelenic (swinging, slider), Ozzie Albies (swinging, curveball) and Matt Olson (foul tip, fastball).
Surely, Olson impressed his family and friends in his homecoming game.
He also impressed teammates.
"That's an impressive outing against that lineup," said Mark Canha , who finished 2-for-3 with one walk at the plate as the designated hitter. "It was gusty. We know what Reese can do, but it felt like Reese made a statement tonight."
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Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Reese Olson ends worst stretch with Detroit Tigers in front of family
