Olson took some good cuts and the hometown crowd was certainly behind him but it didn’t translate into a deep run for Atlanta’s first baseman.
Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson ultimately finished seventh out of eight competitors in the first round of the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby. His 15 home runs left him just three homers shy of advancing, as both Cal Raleigh and Brent Rooker advanced to the Semi-Final after hitting 17 homers in their first run appearances.
Despite the fact that Olson wasn’t exactly here for a long time, he was still here for a good time as his power-hitting prowess eventually sent a jolt of electricity through the stadium as the hometown fans were really pulling for him with each swing. Ultimately, Olson’s slow start ended up dooming him, as it took him until 2:02 in his stint to finally hit his first homer of the session.
Olson then gave it his level best to aim for his usual spots — meaning the Chop House and the seats and bullpen in right center. Olson sent one out 460 feet for his longest dinger of the night — his longest regular season homer was 434 feet, so he put some pop into that particular swing.
Olson ended his stint with a flurry as he entered the bonus round with a decent shot at potentially hitting the handful of homers that he needed to reach the magic number of 18. Sadly for us Braves fans, Olson’s slow start ended up dooming him in this one, as his eventual final tally of 15 home runs left him on the outside looking in. He still received a rousing applause from the hometown faithful but ultimately, it was a short night for Atlanta’s star first baseman.
The final matchup of the night ended up being a battle of American League sluggers, as Cal Raleigh and Junior Caminero squared off to decide who’d take the trophy for this year’s dinger extravaganza. Junior Caminero gave it some extremely good swings and I can attest to that since the press box I’m in is situated is in the Hank Aaron Terrace. A fellow reporter got her laptop rocked by a long ball into the terrace, so this was certainly an example of keeping your head on a swivel (which you should always do at a baseball stadium, you know?).
Caminero clearly had his eyes set on becoming the youngest Derby winner in history. There was an interesting moment in the finals when one of the fans in the outfield tried to rob him of a homer. I get that that’s their time to shine but also brother, it is the Home Run Derby.
Anyways, despite Caminero’s performance, this has been Cal Raleigh’s year and it was Cal Raleigh’s night as well. Big Dumper launched a grand total of 54 dingers on the night and it’s hard to imagine that he won’t end the season with something near or exceeding that number. Raleigh has been absolutely unstoppable at the plate so far this season and he put a nice bow on it by winning the Home Run Derby.
Cal Raleigh gets to take home a cool million dollars and some pretty sweet hardware in the form of the trophy and some extremely lavish jewelry adorned with Henry Aaron’s mantra of “Keep Swinging.” While it was a bummer to see Olson bow out so soon, it was nice to see all of the NL players wearing “44” in honor of Aaron and ultimately Olson gave it a good effort in his second attempt at winning the Home Run Derby.
The main event of MLB All-Star Week will take place tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX, as Ronald Acuña Jr. and Matt Olson will be on the field participating while Brian Snitker watches from the dugout as a coach and Chris Sale is there for support despite being injured. Hopefully we’ll see the local products make some lasting memories on the field in tomorrow’s Midsummer Classic.