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.
| Aaron Zavala | |
|---|---|
| Texas Rangers – No. 92 | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: June 23, 2000 Eugene, Oregon, U.S. | |
Bats: Left Throws: Right |
Amateur career
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
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
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Oregon Ducks bio