It's been a few weeks of some bad and more good for Texas Rangers rookie call-up Mike Olt, who joined the team at the end of July for a big series against AL West rivals Los Angeles Angels from Double-A Frisco.
Olt got the start on Thursday in right field — his second start in as many days against the New York Yankees. And his first start in the outfield, not his natural position for the corner infielder, he had a big error that ended up spelling the end of Derek Holland's outing in the Rangers' eventual 10-6 win to avoid a four-game sweep in The Bronx.
He's had 15 official at-bats with four hits, including a hit in his first big-league at-bat, a walk-off single on Saturday night against the Detroit Tigers and his first career extra-base hit on Thursday afternoon against the Yankees, a double. He has four walks and five strikeouts.
The learning curve will continue for Olt, who is working primarily at first base but also has one start at third base, his natural position. But he's looked good in most of his at-bats, seeing a lot of pitches and making pitchers work, and he hasn't much looked like a Double-A call-up, well except for that error on Thursday.
