Oscar Colás referred to as his mom after discovering out he earned a roster spot.
“She was crying and screaming,” Colás stated via an interpreter. “I got nervous because I thought something happened to her.”
Just happiness for her son, who shall be one of many choices in proper subject for the Chicago White Sox.
“It means a lot to me,” Colás stated of the chance. “It’s a dream come true. I’ve been working for this for a very long time and now being here is very special.”
Colás met with reporters Wednesday afternoon at Minute Maid Park on the eve of the season opener in opposition to the Houston Astros.
Colás, a lefty, didn’t get the beginning Thursday as right-handed hitter Romy Gonzalez started the sport in proper subject with left-hander Framber Valdez on the mound for the Astros. He pinch hit within the seventh inning and singled to heart.
“I just thought Romy was a good matchup,” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol stated Thursday afternoon. “Romy had a extremely good spring. He’s a dynamic participant. He’s received lots of expertise. I simply felt we had a superb matchup and it could be a superb day for Oscar to settle in slightly bit.
“But just because he’s not starting doesn’t mean he’s not playing.”
Colás discovered he made the group a few days earlier than the journey, receiving a name from third-base coach Eddie Rodríguez to go to Grifol’s workplace.
“I went there and I was walking and I was really nervous,” Colás stated. “Once I got there, they told me the news and I was just very happy.”
Colás, 24, is the No. 2 prospect within the group, in response to MLB.com. He had a mixed .314/.371/.524 slash line final 12 months with 23 house runs and 79 RBIs in 117 video games with Class A Winston-Salem (59 video games), Double-A Birmingham (51) and Triple-A Charlotte (seven).
He slashed .258/.279/.424 with two doubles, three homers and 6 RBIs in 28 video games this spring. That’s solely a part of why Colás broke camp with the big-league membership.
“Obviously the talent, the ability to change a game at any given moment in many different ways,” Grifol stated. “Most importantly, his aptitude and his willingness to enhance every day. That’s a very powerful factor for me as a result of he’s going to need to proceed to enhance.
“We’re going to talk about every little thing that he needs to work on or that he needs to develop. We’re not going to miss much. And that’s why he’s here — his ability to want to improve on a daily basis and his aptitude.”
Grifol knew Colás had a shot to make the group coming into camp.
“But it was just a shot,” Grifol stated. “We can let you know you’re competing for a major-league job. Going on the market and successful a major-league job is a unique story. And there’s lots of items to that, and it’s not simply spring coaching in Arizona hitting .450 and saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I hit .450, I’m going to make the group.’
“It’s about aptitude, it’s about work, it’s about taking on constructive criticism the right way. You put all that together with his talent, his game-changing abilities, he made our team.”
General supervisor Rick Hahn recalled a Cactus League recreation in Surprise, Ariz., in opposition to the Texas Rangers through which Colás spent a part of the afternoon sitting and speaking with hitting coach José Castro.
“He took the opportunity to improve over the course of the last few weeks and won the job easily,” Hahn stated. “It was fun to watch. I’m looking forward to how he approaches the start of the season. There’s going to be adjustments, there’s going to be struggles from time to time, but perhaps the biggest takeaway from camp for Oscar is how poised he is to tackle those challenges.”
Castro stated Colás is “easygoing but confidence level through the roof.”
“(He) makes adjustments,” Castro stated. “You might get him with that certain pitch, whatever that pitch might be, but he can catch you.”
Castro labored with Colás through the offseason in Miami on “controlling the strike zone, more strike-to-ball breaking balls than anything, and he’s adjusted well.”
“I think he’s coming along,” Castro stated. “It’s going to be his first year in the big leagues and it’s a big adjustment, so we’ll see how that goes.”
Colás is aware of the work is simply starting.
“I have to give not just 100%, I have to give 200% now,” Colás stated. “It’s not just getting here. It’s staying here. I’m 100% confident in myself. I know how hard I worked for this and I know what I can do.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com