Jared Cole Oliva (born November 27, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

who is a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Amateur career

Oliva attended Valencia High School in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

. As a senior, he hit .325 with 11 stolen bases. Undrafted in the

2013 Major League Baseball draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

, he enrolled at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

where he walked on to the

Arizona Wildcats baseball The Arizona Wildcats baseball team is the intercollegiate men's baseball program representing the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. They compete in the Pac-12 Conference (Pac-12) of NCAA Division I. Arizona has won four c ...

team. Oliva

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his freshman year at Arizona in 2014. In 2015, as a redshirt freshman, he appeared in 43 games in which he hit .272 with one home run and twenty RBIs. That summer, he played in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

for the

Wisconsin Woodchucks The Wausau Woodchucks are an American baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. They play their home games at Athletic Park in Wausau, Wisconsin. History The team was known as the Wausau Woodchucks ...

. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, he batted .239 with four home runs, 34 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases over seventy games. After the season, he returned to play in the Northwoods League. In 2017, his redshirt junior year, Oliva slashed .321/.385/.498 with four home runs and 54 RBIs in 59 games, earning All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

First Team honors alongside earning a spot on the All-Pac-12 All-Defensive Team after posting a .985 fielding percentage. After the season, he was selected by the

in the seventh round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

Professional career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Oliva signed with the Pirates for $200,000, and made his professional debut with the

West Virginia Black Bears The West Virginia Black Bears are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Granville, West Virginia, and play their home games at Monongalia County Ballpark, which is across the Monongahela River from Morganto ...

. Over 56 games, he hit .266 with 17 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Oliva spent the 2018 season with the

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as th ...

, slashing .275/.354/.424 with nine home runs, 47 RBIs, and 33 stolen bases in 108 games. In 2019, he played with the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of the ...

, batting .277/.352/.398 with six home runs, 42 RBIs, and 36 stolen bases over 123 games. After the season, he was assigned to the

Peoria Javelinas The Peoria Javelinas are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. The Javelinas play their home games in the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility for the Sa ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

, earning Fall All-Star honors. On September 21, 2020, Oliva was selected to the 40-man and active rosters. He made his major league debut that day against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. He recorded his first hit, a single, on September 24 versus

Alec Mills Alec Thomas Mills (born November 30, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. The Kansas City Royals selected Mills in the 22nd round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft. He previously played for the Kansas ...

of the Cubs. Oliva spent a majority of the 2021 season in the minor leagues with the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

, batting .249 with two home runs and 23 RBIs over 64 games. He made forty

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a bat ...

s for the Pirates with whom he hit .175 with two RBIs and two doubles. On March 31, 2022, Oliva was designated for assignment to make room for

Josh VanMeter Joshua Michael VanMeter (born March 10, 1995) is an American professional baseball left fielder and infielder in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He previously played in MLB for the Cincinnati Reds, Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirat ...

Los Angeles Angels

On December 7, 2022, Oliva was claimed by the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He elected free agency on November 6.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliva, Jared 1995 births Living people Baseball players from Santa Clarita, California Major League Baseball outfielders Pittsburgh Pirates players Arizona Wildcats baseball players Wisconsin Woodchucks players West Virginia Black Bears players Bradenton Marauders players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players Peoria Javelinas players Yaquis de Obregón players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico