P2Daily: Jared Oliva Piling Up The Hits Late In Season

The year didn’t get off to the best of starts for outfielder Jared Oliva, as he was designated for assignment by the Pirates before the start of the regular season.

He didn’t hit well either for Indianapolis Indians out the gate, posting a batting slash of .214/.269/.362 through the end of July, and really becoming just a Triple-A filler as other outfields were shuttled back-and-forth from the minors to majors.

To his credit, he didn’t let it hold him down for the entire season.

Oliva has been picking up hits in bunches since the start of August, reaching safely in 14 of the 18 games he’s played since then. Of those 14 games, he picked up multiple hits in eight of them. He currently on a five game hitting streak, with four of those also going for multiple hits.

Wednesday saw Oliva go 5-for-7 across two games during Indianapolis’ doubleheader. He scored two runs, and picked up a RBI double in the second game. That hit gave his team just enough cushion to secure the victory.

Other Notes

— If that was the last time that Anthony Solometo takes the mound in 2022, what an awesome way to wrap up such an impressive professional debut. The left pitched five shutout innings, allowing a hit while walking three and striking out five.

There are times he looks so much more advanced for a 19-years-old, and will be something I got more in depth on in the coming weeks, but if you could have mapped out the perfect year for a 19-year-old to have in Single-A what Solometo did wouldn’t have been too far off.

— In what was more of an odd stat line, Greensboro managed just three hits on the night – all of which went for doubles. Mike Jarvis, Abraham Gutierrez, and Sammy Siani all doubled, but the Grasshoppers were still shutout.

— Mason Martin hit his first home run since July 26 in the first game of the double header on Wednesday. After such a disappointing stretch the last few months, the home run was a good reminder of just how good he was to start the year, as he still has 16 home runs after not hitting one for over six weeks.

— One guy I’ll be interested in seeing a more extended look at next year will be Drew Irvine, the Pirates 19th round pick in 2021 out of Iowa. He didn’t make it to Bradenton till August, and gave up four earned runs in his first three innings but has put together four consecutive scoreless appearances (8 1/3 IP). He struck out five batters in two innings on Wednesday, allowing just a walk in the process.