Baseball Pirates’ Jared Olivia Looking For Big League Impact in 2020 by Eli Fishman March 17, 2020 Photo: Rob Lynn Bradenton, FL- In late January, it was announced that Jared Oliva would be on the MLB (Major League Baseball) roster during spring training for the Pittsburgh Pirates to start the 2020 season. Since the team drafted Oliva with their seventh round draft pick in 2017, he has worked his way through the Pirates farm-system, earning Minor League All-Star honors in 2018 and 2019. “It’s been a journey. I’ve learned a lot and I’m excited for this opportunity. A lot of work has been put in to get here but there’s a lot more work to do,” Oliva told me before a spring training game against the Orioles last week. “Now that I’m around the big league staff and around big league guys. It’s really about absorbing (info).” As with many ballplayers, Oliva has faced his share of adversity in professional baseball. He finished his 2019 campaign with team MVP and league All-Star honors, but through the first two months of his all-star season, Oliva’s batting average was an abysmal .198. “The first month and a half was kind of rough, I got punched in the mouth a little bit,” Oliva explained regarding the transition from A to Double-A. ”I really had to learn and make adjustments.” Crediting his coaching staff, he added “a lot of extra work before the games and things just slowly started to roll a little bit.” His willingness “to accept new things, learn new things from the coaches and get tips from veterans guys,” is what turned around his season. Photo by Jeffrey Hyde Everything changed for Olivia In the second half of his 2019 campaign, where he hit for an impressive .325 average. The 24 year old University of Arizona product headed to the exclusive Arizona Fall League (AFL) after the 2019 season, where he continued his success against the top prospects in the game. Oliva hit .312 and stole 11 bases in 26 games, earning a spot on the AFL All-Star roster. His big season shot him up prospect charts, and he is now considered a strong candidate to be a part of the Pirates 2020 MLB roster. Non-roster invitees such as Oliva often do not make the big league club out of camp, but he is confident that he will find himself in the big leagues by the end of 2020. “If I play to my abilities I feel like I can help the big league team but right now it’s just fine tuning everything and learning more about the game.” Post Views: 1,204 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Eli Fishman Eli Fishman is a 16-year old college and minor league baseball writer for Double G Sports. He writes about MLB and MLB Draft prospects. Eli has experience broadcasting college baseball and has his own website and YouTube channel where he interviews professional baseball players. Latest posts by Eli Fishman (see all) Yankees Legends, Somerset Patriots Announce New Double-A Affiliation - November 11, 2020 A Recap of Thursday’s Mets Protest, PR Mess - August 29, 2020 MLBN Adds Buck Showalter as Analyst - August 26, 2020 Mike Trout Rookie Card Sells For Record-Breaking $3.9 Million - August 24, 2020 Related TopicsJared OlivaMLB ProspectpiratesPittsburgh PiratesProspect Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Women in Sports Interview Series: It’s a sure bet with Philadelphia native, Erin Kate Dolan (VIDEO) by Denise Gonzalez | posted on March 17, 2020 No Shame in Their Game – Female Mixed Martial Artists Use Onlyfans to Make Money by Brandon Berrios | posted on December 4, 2020 XFL Co-Owner Dany Garcia Talks Business, Serving Others at espnW Women + Sports Summit by Candace Cordelia | posted on October 23, 2020 From Paramus High School to CBS Sports, Spero Dedes is making waves in sports broadcasting by Sunil Sunder Raj | posted on October 27, 2020 More in Baseball You Know I’m Right, Episode 112: New York Jets’ Insider Brian Costello (Audio/Video) On the 112th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) On the 109th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 108: WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Audio/Video) On the 108th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Talkin’ Phils With Pete Snyder – Episode 2 (AUDIO) You Know I’m Right, Episode 2: The Show Must Go On (Audio)