Menomonie native Terrin Vavra is on the cusp of achieving his major league dreams.
The Baltimore Orioles called up the 25-year-old infielder ahead of their game against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Vavra was not included in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s game and did not appear as a substitute.
Vavra will wear No. 77 for the Orioles. His promotion came after Baltimore placed infielder Jonathan Araúz on the 10-day injured list.
Vavra was hitting .312 with a .425 on-base percentage this season in the minors, mostly at the AAA level. He slugged .444. MLB.com rated Vavra as Baltimore’s 12th-best prospect in its latest rankings.
The Colorado Rockies picked Vavra from the University of Minnesota in the third round of the 2018 draft. He was the MVP of the South Atlantic League in 2019. He was traded to Baltimore in 2020 as part of a deal that sent reliever Mychal Givens to Colorado.
It was clear from a young age that Vavra could be special on the diamond, according to those who knew him.
“You could tell that he had a special quality to him, even when he came on his first visit to campus,” Minnesota Gophers assistant coach Packy Casey told the Leader-Telegram in 2019.
“He understood the game. He had such an advanced approach at the plate. Everything he did from the actions to the way he carried himself was very advanced for a kid his age.”
Vavra has steadily risen through the minors over the last few years, bringing added expectation with each respective step. But he always tried to tune outside opinions out, even if they were positive.
“It’s hard to keep the blinders on 24/7, but you can’t get caught up in that. Otherwise your head starts to swell up and you do some damage that way,” he told the Leader-Telegram in 2019. “You’ve just got to focus on the baseball part of it and let the rest take care of itself.”
Vavra’s father, Joe Vavra, was a longtime assistant coach for the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Terrin’s baseball heritage is evident in his game.
“He has the most natural hitting ability that I’ve ever seen,” Casey said three years ago. “I’m not really sure that you can teach that or hard-wire that into a hitter. … And I think a lot of it is hard work. He works extremely hard studying pitchers, understanding his approach.”
Baltimore is scheduled to host Tampa Bay again at 6:05 p.m. Wednesday and 11:35 a.m. Thursday.
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