Every player’s route to the major leagues is different. According to two minor league players whose routes went through Oxford, it can be direct or winding, it can be fast or slow, but it’s always in pursuit of the same goal: making it to “The Show.”
For two former RedHawks in Spring Training this year, the experience is a glimpse of baseball at its highest level.
“I walk into the locker room and I see established pros like Bobby Witt Jr. and Brady Singer,” said Connor Oliver, who was with Miami for the 2023 season, and is now a pitcher with the Kansas City Royals. “You feel like you’ve made it even though you haven’t made it yet, you still have to grind your way through the minors.”
Contacted by telephone at Spring Training, Oliver and former RedHawk teammate Jonathan Brand, Miami ‘19-’22, who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, both said they are hoping to turn heads in pursuit of a promotion to the next level.
Nine former Miami RedHawks are gearing up for the 2024 baseball season with MLB teams in Spring Training. Two alumni will likely start the year in the Majors, Sam Bachman with the Angels and Grant Hartwig with the Mets. According to Baseball Reference, Miami has had one player drafted every year since 2015 (except in 2020, when the draft was shortened due to COVID).
For Connor Oliver, Miami’s most recent draftee, Oxford was but one stop on the way to playing professional baseball. He transferred twice before arriving in Oxford, playing at Wichita State and Texas Christian beforehand. In Oliver’s lone campaign with Miami in 2023, he registered a team-best 3.89 ERA, striking out 102 batters in 78.2 innings. His season caught the attention of the Royals. However, he was expecting to be in another team’s uniform before getting the call.
“On day two [of the draft], I got a call saying that the Yankees were going to take me early on day three, so I spent a good 12 hours expecting to go there,” said Oliver. He also heard that the Phillies were interested before finding out Kansas City had selected him via the online draft tracker.
The Royals didn’t call him until five minutes after selecting him in the 17th round of the 2023 MLB draft, he said.
“They called and I was in panic mode, I had no idea what to say or what to do,” said Oliver.
Former Miami All-MAC pitcher Jonathan Brand said the draft was similarly uncertain for him. Brand was a mainstay in the RedHawk rotation for three seasons. The right-hander pitched to a 2.84 career ERA in 27 starts at Miami. In his final season with the RedHawks, Brand was voted a First-Team All-MAC pitcher. In 13 starts, he registered a 1.40 ERA, which ranked third in Division I.
Brand thought he was going to Pittsburgh before the Red Sox made him their eighth-round draft choice. Brand said that he had spoken with a Red Sox scout while playing summer ball with the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod Baseball League, an elite collegiate league known for producing MLB prospects.
“It’s a little bit more like pro ball, the competition is great and you’re all out there to only play baseball,” said Brand.
After being selected, Brand reported to the Red Sox spring training facility within days of being drafted in June, along with the rest of his draft class. This common Major League practice gives the teams a chance to evaluate the health of their draftees, and it allows the players to familiarize themselves with their new organization.
“Some teams like to send their new guys to their affiliates right away, but we had all thrown a bunch of innings that year already, so they kept us at the complex for about a month,” said Brand.
Brand now has a year of professional baseball under his belt, spending 2023 with the Red Sox’s single-A affiliate in Salem, Virginia. In 29 appearances last season, he put up a 2.58 ERA, striking out 47 batters in 38.1 innings, picking up eight saves in the process.
“You have to earn your role, and I earned the closer role. It was something I had never done before after starting in college,” said Brand. “It worked out well for me, I think it fits my personality as a fiery guy pretty well.”
Oliver’s first season in professional baseball will be 2024, but he will have to wait until after Spring Training to find out where he’ll be playing. He was also brought down to his team’s facility in Arizona “a few days” after the draft, but due to his heavy collegiate workload he was held out of action to allow for recovery and pitched only one minor league game before being shut down for the season.
Both players credited their time at Miami for setting them up for success in the pros. Brand said that working with Bachman and Hartwig during his junior year helped build a work ethic that has served him well in his professional career.
Oliver said that coaches at Miami helped him move away from trying to fix problems internally, and transition to an “external cueing” system that made a massive difference in his game.
“You can’t think about what your body’s doing on every pitch while in a game,” he said. “You get the call, you take your deep breath, and then you just go.”
Spring Training will continue until Opening Day on March 28. Fans can follow along with every spring game on MLB.com.
