Former Wildcat Jared Oliva makes Major League Debut
Arizona Baseball truly is a MLB Training Ground, as yet another former Wildcat makes their Major League Debut, this time it’s Jared Oliva.
I mean who doesn’t love seeing our former Wildcats succeed in their professional careers, especially when it happens to be former Arizona Baseball star, Jared Oliva?
As you may recall, Jared was a standout outfielder at Arizona from 2015-2017, appearing in 172 games for the Wildcats, even playing in the College World Series in 2016 along with former teammate Bobby Dalbec.
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Well so far, we have already seen Bobby make his Major League Debut a few weeks ago, and already the hard-hitting utility infielder is making his presence known with the Boston Red Sox.
However, not to be overshadowed is Jared!
A rising star in the Minor Leagues for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, Jared has been steadily climbing the ranks, just patiently awaiting his chance.
Well, what better opportunity to play for the worst team in the MLB (record-wise), than in a season that has been greatly affected by the Global Covid Pandemic?
The Pirates’ organization announced Oliva’s promotion on Monday afternoon via social media, and all I can say is, it’s about time!
In his 287 games spent in the Minor Leagues thus far, Jared compiled a .274 batting average in 1,215 at-bats, with 15 homeruns, 106 RBI’s and 84 stolen bases. The production was there, now it was time for him to get his chance.
Traveling to Pittsburgh to make his debut against the Chicago Cubs, Jared wouldn’t start in this one, but would come in as a Designated Hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Already out of the contest with the Pirates trailing 5-0 with two outs, Oliva would be the last batter in the game, facing Chicago reliever, Dan Winkler.
After going down 0-1 in the count, Oliva would then foul-off back-to-back pitches, before seeing an 0-2 fastball that seemed to freeze him up, that ended the game on a strikeout.
While the outcome is rather unfortunate and likely not what Jared had hoped in his first at-bat, hopefully this is just a start in what will be a long and illustrious baseball career!
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At Zona Zealots, we’re proud of Jared and seeing him up in the Major Leagues is well-deserved! As always, Bear Down, Arizona!