Zach Remillard walked into the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium on Thursday as a major-leaguer for the primary time.
“I don’t know that it’s hit me yet,” Remillard mentioned earlier than the sport towards the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Some things haven’t really settled in.”
Remillard moved up from Triple-A Charlotte when the Sox positioned Yoan Moncada on the injured record with decrease again irritation.
The infielder has been within the Sox group since 2016, when the group chosen him within the tenth spherical of the draft out of Coastal Carolina.
“It means everything,” Remillard mentioned. “You play since you’re a child with a dream in your coronary heart to get to this stage and compete on the highest stage on the planet.
“It’s always been a dream of mine and I owe it to a lot of people in my life and my family. It’s been an emotional day. I’m excited to be here.”
Remillard’s household was scheduled to hitch him in Seattle because the Sox started a three-game sequence Friday towards the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
“He showed me a little bit of everything (during spring training),” Sox supervisor Pedro Grifol mentioned Thursday. “He performed eight positions on the sector. He’s extraordinarily versatile, can pinch run, can hit. Gamer, takes a stroll. Winner.
“You name it, I’m happy for it, I’m happy to have him here. He’s a baseball player. He’s a good asset to our ballclub.”
Remillard is hitting .236 with 10 doubles, 5 house runs, 25 RBIs, 33 walks, 41 runs and 13 stolen bases in 59 video games with Charlotte.
He displayed his versatility at Triple A, showing in 18 video games at first base, 16 at third, 11 at shortstop, six every at second and in left subject, three at designated hitter, two in proper and one in left. Remillard set profession highs in a number of classes, together with on-base proportion (.373), runs (83) and stolen bases (19) final season with Charlotte.
He has a profession .253/.326/.378 slash line with 110 doubles, 11 triples, 57 house runs, 268 RBIs, 71 stolen bases and 377 runs in 694 video games throughout seven seasons within the Sox minor-league system.
Remillard came upon he was headed to the majors after being pulled Wednesday throughout Charlotte’s recreation.
“I was two at-bats into the game, and (Charlotte manager Justin) Jirschele called time at the beginning of the inning and pulled me out of the game,” Remillard mentioned. “I knew one thing was up and hopefully it was excellent news, and it ended up being excellent news. I bought to take pleasure in that with teammates. It was a cool expertise, one thing I’ll always remember.
“He told me when I was entering the dugout and the team erupted a little bit. It was a cool moment. It was special for sure.”
The first individual he referred to as was his spouse, Rachel.
“She has been in the trenches with me and there for me every step of the way,” Remillard mentioned. “Don’t get me wrong: My family was a close second. I called my parents and brother right away. But yeah, my wife is a part of what I do every day and she’s as much in it as I am.”
Rachel mentioned throughout a telephone interview Friday with the Tribune that she was at a consumer dinner whereas touring for work convention in New York and preliminary declined his name after which thought, “He’s supposed to be at a game, why is he calling me?”
She glanced at a textual content from her mother and requested to step out for a second.
“My reaction was just shock,” she mentioned. “We at all times clearly dreamed of that decision for a very long time. That dream was his and finally one which he shared with me. I by no means actually knew what it was going to be like, nevertheless it was loopy.
“It’s been inspiring to me to have a front-row seat to it and watch him kind of be broken down and then built back up multiple times and hold on to a promise and a faith that he had throughout the whole time. It’s been really fulfilling.”
She made the journey to Seattle, as did Zach’s mother, Jen, and pop, Ernie, his brother Will and sister-in regulation Mary.
Remillard’s time in Triple A began with a recreation in Durham, N.C., in 2021. And the Knights had been in Durham once more Wednesday when he bought the promotion to the massive leagues.
Then got here the adventures in journey.
“I went from Raleigh (N.C.) to Denver to (Los Angeles), straight to the field,” Remillard mentioned. “Running on adrenaline for certain.
“(I’m) just taking it all in, enjoying it. Fortunately I’m in a place where I played with a lot of these guys going through the system. You kind of have that comfortability in the clubhouse, so it’s nice.”
Remillard is appreciating the journey.
“I’ve always been grateful for the opportunity to play wherever I had the chance,” Remillard mentioned. “Not everybody will get to play this recreation, even on the stage of Triple A.
“You have those dreams. If you take it a day at a time and stay grateful, when that day comes, you are just prepared and ready to go.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com