New Met - P - Garrett Olsen

Garrett Olson

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Left
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 210 lb.

Born: October 18, 1983 in Fresno, CA (Age 28)
High School: Buchanon (Fresno, CA)
School: California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1st round (48th pick) of the 2005 amateur draft.
Signed June 22, 2005. (All Transactions)
Debut: July 4, 2007
Teams (by GP): Mariners/Orioles/Pirates 2007-2011
2012 Contract Status: Pre-Arb Eligible (details)[*]
Service Time (01/2012): 2.133, Arb Eligible: 2013, Free Agent: 2016 [*], link

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
2005	21	BAL-min	A-,A+	2	1	.667	1.99	14	9	2	0	0	1	54.1	32	12	12	1	20	0	59	4	0	2	214		0.957	5.3	0.2	3.3	9.8	2.95	ADN,FDK · NYPL,CARL
2006	22	BAL-min	AA,A+	10	9	.526	3.10	28	28	0	0	0	0	165.2	159	65	57	12	50	1	162	16	2	6	699		1.262	8.6	0.7	2.7	8.8	3.24	BOW,FDK · EL,CARL
2007	23	BAL-min	AAA	9	7	.563	3.16	22	22	0	1	0	0	128.0	95	49	45	13	39	0	120	5	0	1	510		1.047	6.7	0.9	2.7	8.4	3.08	NFK · IL
2007	23	BAL	AL	1	3	.250	7.79	7	7	0	0	0	0	32.1	42	28	28	4	28	1	28	2	1	1	162	60	2.165	11.7	1.1	7.8	7.8	1.00
2008	24	BAL-min	AAA	1	2	.333	2.97	7	7	0	0	0	0	36.1	35	14	12	1	16	0	39	1	2	1	159		1.404	8.7	0.2	4.0	9.7	2.44	NFK · IL
2008	24	BAL	AL	9	10	.474	6.65	26	26	0	0	0	0	132.2	168	100	98	17	62	1	83	8	0	6	621	67	1.734	11.4	1.2	4.2	5.6	1.34
2009	25	SEA-min	AAA	2	3	.400	4.94	9	9	0	0	0	0	47.1	38	26	26	2	23	0	38	4	0	2	200		1.289	7.2	0.4	4.4	7.2	1.65	TAC · PCL
2009	25	SEA	AL	3	5	.375	5.60	31	11	5	0	0	0	80.1	79	52	50	19	34	0	47	4	0	2	347	77	1.407	8.9	2.1	3.8	5.3	1.38
2010	26	SEA-min	AAA	2	5	.286	3.66	12	6	2	0	0	0	46.2	36	22	19	4	15	0	50	2	0	1	189		1.093	6.9	0.8	2.9	9.6	3.33	TAC · PCL
2010	26	SEA	AL	0	3	.000	4.54	35	0	11	0	0	1	37.2	42	20	19	6	15	1	31	0	0	4	172	88	1.513	10.0	1.4	3.6	7.4	2.07
2011	27	PIT-min	AAA	4	3	.571	3.05	24	15	1	0	0	0	85.2	63	35	29	7	47	1	61	3	1	3	361		1.284	6.6	0.7	4.9	6.4	1.30	INA · IL
2011	27	PIT	NL	1	1	.500	2.08	4	0	1	0	0	0	4.1	2	1	1	0	3	1	4	0	0	1	21	201	1.154	4.2	0.0	6.2	8.3	1.33
5 Seasons				14	22	.389	6.14	103	44	17	0	0	1	287.1	333	201	196	46	142	4	193	14	1	14	1323	71	1.653	10.4	1.4	4.4	6.0	1.36
162 Game Avg.				6	10	.389	6.14	48	20	8	0	0	0	133	154	93	91	21	66	2	89	6	0	6	612	71	1.653	10.4	1.4	4.4	6.0	1.36
SEA (2 yrs)				3	8	.273	5.26	66	11	16	0	0	1	118.0	121	72	69	25	49	1	78	4	0	6	519	80	1.441	9.2	1.9	3.7	5.9	1.59
BAL (2 yrs)				10	13	.435	6.87	33	33	0	0	0	0	165.0	210	128	126	21	90	2	111	10	1	7	783	65	1.818	11.5	1.1	4.9	6.1	1.23
PIT (1 yr)				1	1	.500	2.08	4	0	1	0	0	0	4.1	2	1	1	0	3	1	4	0	0	1	21	201	1.154	4.2	0.0	6.2	8.3	1.33
AL (4 yrs)			AL	13	21	.382	6.20	99	44	16	0	0	1	283.0	331	200	195	46	139	3	189	14	1	13	1302	70	1.661	10.5	1.5	4.4	6.0	1.36
NL (1 yr)			NL	1	1	.500	2.08	4	0	1	0	0	0	4.1	2	1	1	0	3	1	4	0	0	1	21	201	1.154	4.2	0.0	6.2	8.3	1.33

Baltimore Orioles

Olson was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles as a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd rounds (48th overall) of the 2005 draft.

He spent most of the 2005 season at Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds, and was named the 8th-best prospect in the New York-Penn League. He allowed one run or fewer in 10 of his 11 games. He pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out 8, in his last start on August 15 at Staten Island. Olson then pitched for the Single-A Frederick Keys, held opponents to a .192 batting average, and was named the Orioles' 6th-best prospect by Baseball America following the season.
In 2006, he advanced from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie, going a combined 10–9 with a 3.10 ERA, and striking out 162 batters in 165.2 innings. He was again named the Orioles' 6th-best prospect by Baseball America following the season, and was named the Baltimore Orioles Minor League Player of the Year.

Olson was invited to the All-Star Futures Game. He was called up by the Orioles organization to be a starting pitcher again after July 4 start in Chicago. He was mentioned, but did not participate in the 2007 All-Star Futures Game, representing the United States team
.
Through 2007, in his minor league career he was 21–17 with a 2.95 ERA, and had averaged 7.37 hits and 8.82 strikeouts per 9 innings.

Olson was promoted from the Triple-A Norfolk Tides to take the place of injured Orioles starter Steve Trachsel, and he made his major league debut on Independence Day of 2007 against the Chicago White Sox. He would have earned the win in his debut, but he only pitched 4⅓ innings, falling two outs shy of the 5 innings required to qualify for a win. He earned his first career win in his next start, also against the White Sox, on July 14. He gave up 2 runs in 5⅓ innings, both on solo home runs by Jermaine Dye, and the Orioles went on to win 5–3.

Olson committed his first career error in his debut on July 4. After allowing the first batter he faced in his career, left fielder Andy González, to reach base via a walk, he made a throwing error on a pickoff attempt, allowing Gonzalez to reach second base. His first career strikeout came three batters later, as Paul Konerko was called out on a 2–2 pitch.

On June 28, 2008, Olson earned his first career hit vs. the Washington Nationals against Jesús Colomé in the sixth inning.

He went to 3–0 on 8% of all batters he faced in 2008, the highest percentage in the majors.

 Seattle Mariners

On January 18, 2009, Olson was traded to the Chicago Cubs with a minor-leaguer for Félix Pie.Just 10 days later, he was traded along with Ronny Cedeño to the Seattle Mariners for Aaron Heilman.

On April 1, 2009, Olson was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the season. He was called up on May 6 because of an injury to relief pitcher Shawn Kelley. Olson soon took the rotation spot from teammate Chris Jakubauskas.

He compiled a 3.72 ERA in 12 relief appearances covering 19 1/3 innings. In 11 starts, he is 3–5 with a 6.49 ERA through August 10. This is why he was sent to the bull pen to become a reliever. Olson stated he felt comfortable in both roles.

Olson was again optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on August 20 to clear roster space for Infielder Bill Hall.

On September 13 Olson was called-up again to the Mariners. This is his third stint with the team in '09. With Tacoma, Olson went 2–3 with a 4.94 ERA and notched the Rainiers' only playoff win against the Sacramento River Cats.

 Pittsburgh Pirates

On March 18, 2011, the Mariners placed Olson on waivers. He was later claimed off waivers by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was designated for assignment on April 17.

 New York Mets

Olson signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets on December 12, 2011.

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Olson} 

Scouting

Olson has an average fastball for a left-hander at 89-92 MPH, though it touched a notch higher than that late in the season. It has a ton of life and he does a good job of keeping it low in the zone. Opponents at both levels had trouble lifting it for extra base hits. Olson also has the best control of any starter prospect in the system.

Olson also has a big breaking power curveball that still probably rates as his best pitch, despite the improvement of his other pitches over the past year. Fellow lefties are rendered helpless against it. Olson also took a step forward in 2006 attacking right-handers and it all starts with his changeup. Once his weakest offering, it now rates as a solid third pitch and shows even more room for improvement. It has natural life that mimics a splitter.

Outlook

Though he has only 84.1 innings above A-ball, there are many within the organization that believe Olson is ready for the majors already. If the Orioles weren’t intent on keeping him a starter, there is little doubt that he could be successful out of the bullpen by opening day. With the high-priced additions of this off-season, Olson will start at triple-A Norfolk and likely battle with Hayden Penn for the #1 starter slot. Penn will likely get his chance at a major league spot before Olson but, with the likes of Steve Trachsel and Jaret Wright as the roadblocks, both will get plenty of chances.

Garrett Olson should have a slot in the rotation nailed down by 2008 and projects as a mid-rotation starter. He is already close to his ceiling and only the further development of his changeup is holding him back. There are pitchers in the Orioles’

http://orioles.scout.com/2/622459.html