After sleepless night, Barrosa’s call finally comes
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PHOENIX -- Outfielder Jorge Barrosa was playing for Triple-A Reno on a road trip in Las Vegas on Sunday when he got the word to see manager Blake Lalli, who had good news for Barrosa.
Well, kind of.
Lalli told Barrosa that he was headed to Phoenix that night, but whether he was going to be added to the big league roster was still uncertain. D-backs outfielder Alek Thomas had felt tightness in left hamstring while grounding into a first-inning double play that day, and the team wasn’t sure if it would require a stint on the injured list.
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So, Barrosa packed up his stuff and flew to Phoenix, where he arrived late in the evening at his home in the Valley.
And then he waited.
And waited.
Sleep didn’t come easy.
“It was a tough night,” said Barrosa, the D-backs' No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline. “I was checking my phone all the time.”
Thomas had an MRI that revealed a strain in the hamstring, and he was placed on the IL. It was only then that Barrosa finally got “the call,” this time from Arizona farm director Shaun Larkin, who told him to come to Chase Field.
Barrosa had never been called up to the big leagues, but he was part of the team’s taxi squad during the 2023 postseason, traveling with them in case of an injury as the D-backs made a surprise run to the World Series.
“It was crazy man,” Barrosa said of last year’s playoff experience. “It’s kind of similar to what I feel right now. They were in the postseason, and I just got the news, and then the next day, I was in Milwaukee [for the NL Wild Card Series]. It’s something you don't expect, but you’ve just got to enjoy it.”
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Barrosa didn’t make the active roster during the postseason, but he didn’t have to wait long to see action this time around, with manager Torey Lovullo sending him up to pinch-hit in the ninth inning Monday night.
Barrosa doubled off Victor González to secure his first big league hit and cap off a whirlwind 24-hour period.
The experience of being around the big league clubhouse in October made the transition smoother this time around for Barrosa.
“For sure,” Barrosa said. “Just seeing how the game goes here. You understand more. Being around those guys, it’s just special. You learn something small every day or something big. That helped me a lot to be here.”