Olson sounds off again in Nashville romp

Matt Olson has been in quite the groove since returning to Triple-A Nashville in late April.
The A's No. 15 prospect recorded his second two-homer game in less than a month Friday as the Sounds defeated Iowa, 12-3, at Principal Park. He went 3-for-5 with a season-high three runs scored and matched his season best with four RBIs

Gameday box score
"I'm feeling pretty good as of late; I've felt pretty good here for the past few weeks and kind of trying to maintain that good feeling," Olson said. "I've had a couple bad games here and there, and it's just checking it real quick and getting back to that good feeling."
Since returning from a week-long stint in the Majors on April 28, Olson is batting .313/.395/.664 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs in 33 games. That's in contrast to the .216/.322/.353 slash line he produced with two homers and four RBIs in 14 games before moving up to Oakland.
"I think it's a little bit of a coincidence, but it did seem like when I came down I started swinging it really well," Olson said. "I had a good first game back and from that point on I've felt pretty good up there."
The 23-year-old first baseman felt good from the outset Friday, taking the second pitch he saw from Iowa starter Casey Kelly (2-1) out to right-center field for a three-run homer. It opened the scoring in what turned into a seven-run first inning for the Sounds.
"I knew he probably was going to go with something off-speed there after allowing first and third and getting a couple quick guys on base," Olson said. "I just tried to stay back on one, and he left a changeup a little up."
After Kelly got the better of Olson in his next two at-bats, inducing a groundout in the second and a flyout in the fourth, right-hander Dylan Floro faced Olson to open the seventh. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound slugger fouled off two pitches with the count 3-2 before going the other way with the eighth pitch of the at-bat and clearing the left-center field fence for his second homer of the night.

"He was throwing some good sinkers and I was really just telling myself to see the ball up and not chase that pitch down that he wants me to," Olson said. "He left one up on the 3-2 pitch and I drove it out to left."
The 2012 first-round pick added a single to right and scored in the ninth, notching his fourth game this season with at least three hits -- one shy of his total from all of 2016. The 2014 California League leader with 37 long balls, Olson also is closing in on his home run total from each of the past two seasons -- he hit 17 for Double-A Midland in 2015 and for Nashville last season -- thanks to a couple of offseason adjustments.
"I think [the power] has always been there," Olson said. "There had been a little mechanical issue that I'd noticed going back to the past couple years. I corrected it this offseason and towards the end of the year when I went up to Oakland with hitting coach [Darren Bush] up there.
"My balance was getting a little too out in front on my front leg and when I was getting loaded I was kind of cutting my body off from the upper half, so I was just rotating on balls and couldn't get through them and drive them like I wanted. ... I ended up starting my hands out a little further in my set position to give myself a clear path to the ball. ... It feels good now. It feels free."

A's No. 17 prospect Renato Núñez added his 11th homer, doubled and drove in two runs, while fourth-ranked Matt Chapman had three hits and an RBI. Chris Smith (3-2) cruised to the win, allowing three hits and striking out eight over six scoreless innings.
Cubs No. 13 prospectChesny Young doubled twice and drove in two of Iowa's three runs.