Reese Olson (born July 31, 1999) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.

Career

Olson was born in

Gainesville, Georgia The city of Gainesville is the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it is often called the "Poultry Capital of t ...

, and attended

North Hall High School North Hall High School is a public four-year comprehensive high school located in the northern portion of Hall County, Georgia, United States, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. North Hall serves Murrayville, Clermont, and portion ...

Milwaukee Brewers

He was drafted by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in the 13th round of the

2018 MLB draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

. In 2019, Olson started 14 games for High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, posting a 4–7 record with a 4.66 ERA and 84 strikeouts over 94 innings. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In 2021, Olson started 14 games for High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, posting a 5–4 record with a 4.30 ERA and 79 strikeouts over 69 innings.

Detroit Tigers

On July 31, 2021, Olson was traded to the

in exchange for

Daniel Norris Daniel David Norris (born April 25, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Cleveland Guardians organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers ...

. He was assigned to the High-A

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpark. ...

. He was ranked the organization's thirteenth best prospect in MLB.com's mid-season 2021 update. Olson spent the entire 2022 season with the Double–A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

. In 26 appearances (25 starts), he registered an 8–6 record and 4.14 ERA with 168 strikeouts in innings pitched. He was named the 2022 MiLB Gold Glove as the best defensive pitcher in the minor leagues. On November 15, 2022, the Tigers added Olson to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Olson was optioned to the Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

to begin the 2023 season. In 10 starts, he struggled to a 6.38 ERA with 47 strikeouts in innings of work. On May 31, the Tigers announced that Olson would be promoted to the major leagues for the first time to start two days later against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. In his first major league start, Olson gave up 2 hits and 2 earned runs in 5 innings while striking out 6 batters. He took the loss, as the Tigers offense scored zero runs in the game. On the season, Olson made 21 appearances (18 starts) at the major league level, posting a 5–7 record with a 3.99 ERA and 103 strikeouts in innings. Entering the 2024 season, Olson made the Tigers'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster as part of their rotation, beating out

Matt Manning Matthew George Manning (born January 28, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Tigers selected him in the first round of the 2016 MLB draft. Amateur career Manning attended ...

for one of the final spots.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Reese 1999 births Living people Arizona League Brewers players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Major League Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Gainesville, Georgia Toledo Mud Hens players West Michigan Whitecaps players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players