diff --git a/crates/core/src/operations/optimize.rs b/crates/core/src/operations/optimize.rs
index 0e5d29c2b4..af3541ca2c 100644
--- a/crates/core/src/operations/optimize.rs
+++ b/crates/core/src/operations/optimize.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 //! ````
 
 use std::collections::HashMap;
+use std::fmt;
 use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::time::{Duration, Instant, SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH};
 
@@ -36,7 +37,7 @@ use parquet::arrow::async_reader::{ParquetObjectReader, ParquetRecordBatchStream
 use parquet::basic::{Compression, ZstdLevel};
 use parquet::errors::ParquetError;
 use parquet::file::properties::WriterProperties;
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde::{de::Error as DeError, Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 use tracing::debug;
 
 use super::transaction::PROTOCOL;
@@ -60,8 +61,16 @@ pub struct Metrics {
     /// Number of unoptimized files removed
     pub num_files_removed: u64,
     /// Detailed metrics for the add operation
+    #[serde(
+        serialize_with = "serialize_metric_details",
+        deserialize_with = "deserialize_metric_details"
+    )]
     pub files_added: MetricDetails,
     /// Detailed metrics for the remove operation
+    #[serde(
+        serialize_with = "serialize_metric_details",
+        deserialize_with = "deserialize_metric_details"
+    )]
     pub files_removed: MetricDetails,
     /// Number of partitions that had at least one file optimized
     pub partitions_optimized: u64,
@@ -75,17 +84,34 @@ pub struct Metrics {
     pub preserve_insertion_order: bool,
 }
 
+// Custom serialization function that serializes metric details as a string
+fn serialize_metric_details<S>(value: &MetricDetails, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+where
+    S: Serializer,
+{
+    serializer.serialize_str(&value.to_string())
+}
+
+// Custom deserialization that parses a JSON string into MetricDetails
+fn deserialize_metric_details<'de, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<MetricDetails, D::Error>
+where
+    D: Deserializer<'de>,
+{
+    let s: String = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+    serde_json::from_str(&s).map_err(DeError::custom)
+}
+
 /// Statistics on files for a particular operation
 /// Operation can be remove or add
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
 pub struct MetricDetails {
-    /// Minimum file size of a operation
-    pub min: i64,
-    /// Maximum file size of a operation
-    pub max: i64,
     /// Average file size of a operation
     pub avg: f64,
+    /// Maximum file size of a operation
+    pub max: i64,
+    /// Minimum file size of a operation
+    pub min: i64,
     /// Number of files encountered during operation
     pub total_files: usize,
     /// Sum of file sizes of a operation
@@ -103,6 +129,13 @@ impl MetricDetails {
     }
 }
 
+impl fmt::Display for MetricDetails {
+    /// Display the metric details using serde serialization
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        serde_json::to_string(self).map_err(|_| fmt::Error)?.fmt(f)
+    }
+}
+
 /// Metrics for a single partition
 pub struct PartialMetrics {
     /// Number of optimized files added
diff --git a/python/tests/pyspark_integration/test_write_to_pyspark.py b/python/tests/pyspark_integration/test_write_to_pyspark.py
index 5cf6490a62..3e4bb9d7f0 100644
--- a/python/tests/pyspark_integration/test_write_to_pyspark.py
+++ b/python/tests/pyspark_integration/test_write_to_pyspark.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import pyarrow as pa
 import pytest
 
-from deltalake import write_deltalake
+from deltalake import DeltaTable, write_deltalake
 from deltalake.exceptions import DeltaProtocolError
 
 from .utils import assert_spark_read_equal, get_spark
@@ -113,3 +113,59 @@ def test_checks_min_writer_version(tmp_path: pathlib.Path):
     ):
         valid_data = pa.table({"c1": pa.array([5, 6])})
         write_deltalake(str(tmp_path), valid_data, mode="append")
+
+
+@pytest.mark.pyspark
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_spark_read_optimize_history(tmp_path: pathlib.Path):
+    ids = ["1"] * 10
+    values = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100]
+
+    id_array = pa.array(ids, type=pa.string())
+    value_array = pa.array(values, type=pa.int32())
+
+    pa_table = pa.Table.from_arrays([id_array, value_array], names=["id", "value"])
+
+    # Two writes on purpose for an optimize to occur
+    write_deltalake(tmp_path, pa_table, mode="append", partition_by=["id"])
+    write_deltalake(tmp_path, pa_table, mode="append", partition_by=["id"])
+
+    dt = DeltaTable(tmp_path)
+    dt.optimize.compact(partition_filters=[("id", "=", "1")])
+
+    spark = get_spark()
+    history_df = spark.sql(f"DESCRIBE HISTORY '{tmp_path}'")
+
+    latest_operation_metrics = (
+        history_df.orderBy(history_df.version.desc()).select("operationMetrics").first()
+    )
+
+    assert latest_operation_metrics["operationMetrics"] is not None
+
+
+@pytest.mark.pyspark
+@pytest.mark.integration
+def test_spark_read_z_ordered_history(tmp_path: pathlib.Path):
+    ids = ["1"] * 10
+    values = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100]
+
+    id_array = pa.array(ids, type=pa.string())
+    value_array = pa.array(values, type=pa.int32())
+
+    pa_table = pa.Table.from_arrays([id_array, value_array], names=["id", "value"])
+
+    # Two writes on purpose for an optimize to occur
+    write_deltalake(tmp_path, pa_table, mode="append", partition_by=["id"])
+    write_deltalake(tmp_path, pa_table, mode="append", partition_by=["id"])
+
+    dt = DeltaTable(tmp_path)
+    dt.optimize.z_order(columns=["value"], partition_filters=[("id", "=", "1")])
+
+    spark = get_spark()
+    history_df = spark.sql(f"DESCRIBE HISTORY '{tmp_path}'")
+
+    latest_operation_metrics = (
+        history_df.orderBy(history_df.version.desc()).select("operationMetrics").first()
+    )
+
+    assert latest_operation_metrics["operationMetrics"] is not None