Perhaps not since Jason Heyward joined the team to start the 2010 season has a Braves player’s debut been as anticipated as Hector Olivera’s arrival.
The wait is finally over. Olivera was among the players the Braves added when rosters expanded on Tuesday and he arrives with more expectations and scrutiny than the typical prospect making his big-league debut in September.
Olivera, 30, was in the lineup at third base for the game against the Marlins on Tuesday.
“I’m aware of the fans but the fans are coming out to see the whole club, not just me,” Olivera said through an interpreter. “I am going to do everything possible to make everybody happy and help this team win.”
The Braves acquired Olivera as the centerpiece in a July 30 trade in which they sent the Dodgers effective left-handed starter Alex Wood, lefty reliever Luis Avilan and top prospect Jose Peraza. Braves president of baseball operations John Hart touted Olivera as the “first building block” of the team’s retooled offense.
After recovering from a hamstring injury Olivera played 24 games in the Braves’ minor-league system. Manager Fredi Gonzalez expects Olivera to be successful in the final month because he likes his character but cautioned that it may take time.
“You just never know until you run somebody out there and let him play,” Gonzalez said. “Hopefully it’s only a couple days and you go, ‘Wow, that’s what we traded for.’ It may take two or three weeks until we start seeing what this guy can really do.”
Gonzalez said the plan is to give Olivera regular playing time over the final 31 games.
Olivera defected from Cuba in September and major league baseball declared him a free agent in March. The Braves are among several teams the Dodgers outbid to sign Olivera. The Braves owe him about $32 million on a contract that runs for five more seasons after 2015.
Injuries have limited Olivera to 35 games this year. In 14 games at Gwinnett he hit .231 (9-for-39) with a .286 on-base percentage and .308 slugging percentage.
Olivera said the hamstring no longer is an issue but he’s “not quite 100 percent” in terms of his timing. He said he’ll be up to speed within the next few days.
“With the injury and being out, it was like I was catching up,” he said. “But now I’m ready to start get going and let it carry on to the off season and then be ready in spring training to start with everybody.”
Gonzalez said Olivera should benefit from having three coaches who speak Spanish on the bench during games: Gonzalez, bench coach Carlos Tosca and assistant hitting coach Jose Castro.
Olivera said it helps that he’ll be teammates with Braves utility player Adonis Garcia, who he’s known since they were about 13-years old. Olivera and Garcia played on the Cuban national team at the Pan-American Games when they were 16.
“It’s a great benefit for me to have Adonis here,” Olivera said. “He’s a very good friend a very good ballplayer with a lot of tools. Since he’s been here first, having Adonis with that experience is only going to help me because we are so close.”
