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Aaron Zavala

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Aaron Zavala
Zavala with the Hickory Crawdads in 2022
Texas Rangers – No. 92
Outfielder
Born: (2000-06-23) June 23, 2000 (age 24)
Eugene, Oregon, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right

Aaron David Kenneth Zavala (born June 23, 2000) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Texas Rangers organization. He played college baseball for the Oregon Ducks.

Amateur career

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Zavala grew up in Keizer, Oregon and attended South Salem High School, where he primarily played catcher on the baseball team. As a senior, he was named the Oregon Class 6A State Player of the Year after batting .561 with six home runs and 19 RBIs in 20 games played.[1] Undrafted out of high school, he attended the University of Oregon to play college baseball for the Oregon Ducks.[2]

Zavala played in 43 games with 37 starts as a freshman and batted .273 with nine doubles, 17 RBIs and 22 runs scored.[3] Following that season he played collegiate summer baseball for the Ridgefield Raptors of the West Coast League.[4] Zavala hit .418 with 22 RBIs through 15 games during sophomore season before it was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic.[5] As a redshirt sophomore, he was named the Pac-12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year and was a consensus first team All-American selection after batting for a .392 average with nine home runs, 38 RBIs, 64 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.[6][7]

Professional career

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On July 12, 2021, Zavala was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the second round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.[8][9][10] He signed with Texas on August 1, for a $830,000 signing bonus.[11] During his routine physical before signing, Texas found a "medical anomaly," which led to his signing bonus being over a million dollars under the designated $1,952,300 slot value.[12] Zavala split his professional debut season of 2021 between the ACL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League and the Down East Wood Ducks of the Low-A East, hitting a combined .293/.419/.400/.819 with 1 home run, 9 RBI, and 9 stolen bases over 22 games.[13][14] Zavala opened the 2022 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A South Atlantic League, and hit .278/.424/.442/.866 with 11 home runs, 41 RBI, and 19 stolen bases over 81 games.[15] On July 30, Zavala was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League.[16] Over 30 games for Frisco, Zavala hit .277/.410/.482/.892 with 5 home runs, 21 RBI, and 4 stolen bases.[17] Following the season he played for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League. After just 5 games in the AFL, Zavala was diagnosed with a torn UCL and underwent internal brace UCL repair surgery.[18]

Zavala was assigned back to Frisco after completing rehab, and returned to game action on May 16, 2023.[19] Zavala struggled mightily in 2023, hitting just .194/.343/.285/.627 with 5 home runs and 40 RBI, while striking out 159 times over 426 at-bats.

References

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  1. ^ Mims, Steve (February 27, 2019). "Freshman Aaron Zavala off to hot start at plate as he seeks a position for Oregon Ducks baseball". The Register-Guard. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  2. ^ McDonald, Jeremy (2018-04-06). "COMMITTED: Zavala, Smith, Thompson Sign Their LOI's Thursday". JMcDonaldMedia. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  3. ^ "Zavala looks to continue hot streak with the Ducks". Keizertimes. March 11, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  4. ^ "Zavala all wet after walk-off winner for Raptors". The Columbian. June 15, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "South Salem's Aaron Zavala breaking records for University of Oregon baseball". Statesman Journal. May 28, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Crepea, James (June 19, 2021). "Oregon Ducks outfielder Aaron Zavala becomes consensus first team All-American". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  7. ^ "Oregon baseball's Aaron Zavala named Pac-12 player of the Year". The Bulletin. June 3, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  8. ^ Hill, Mojo. "Aaron Zavala drafted by Texas Rangers with 38th overall pick in MLB draft". Daily Emerald. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  9. ^ Halicke, Chris. "Rangers MLB Draft Tracker: Rounds 2-10". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2021-07-12.
  10. ^ Joel Odom (2021-07-12). "Texas Rangers select Oregon Ducks' Aaron Zavala in 2nd round of MLB draft". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  11. ^ Callis, Jim (August 1, 2021). "Rocker, 2 more from Top 10 rounds don't sign". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  12. ^ Halicke, Chris (August 1, 2021). "'Medical Anomaly': Rangers Sign Aaron Zavala To Under-Slot Deal Prior To Deadline". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2021-08-01. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
  13. ^ "Aaron Zavala Amateur, College & Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-10. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  14. ^ Herrera, Ryan (September 7, 2021). "Tuesday's top prospect performers". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  15. ^ Grant, Evan (2022-07-13). "Where are they now? Jack Leiter, Rangers' 2021 MLB draft class edition". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  16. ^ Wilson, Jeff (2022-07-30). "Rangers farm report: Josh Jung not the only minor-league infielder missing out on MLB debut". Jeff Wilson's Texas Rangers Today. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  17. ^ Postins, Matthew (October 26, 2022). "Rangers Top 30 Prospect Wraps: Aaron Zavala". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  18. ^ Weaver, Levi (November 8, 2022). "Weaver Wire: Dayton Moore update, Rangers offseason plans and playing catch-up". The Athletic. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  19. ^ Grant, Evan (2023-05-16). "Rangers OF prospect Aaron Zavala completes rehab after partial UCL tear". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
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