Most Kansas City Royals fans are likely not familiar with minor-leaguer Juan Olmos, but the start of his professional baseball career has the makings of a fascinating story.
Olmos was signed as a catcher out of Colombia at age 17 in 2022, and spent three seasons in rookie ball for the Royals trying to break through. When he was unable to rise above rookie ball that way, the Royals decided to make him a pitcher headed into 2025.
The experiment ultimately didn’t pan out in the short term, and Olmos was released in November after putting up a 7.88 ERA in 12 appearances for the Royals’ Dominican Summer League affiliate. But he quickly found a new organization to presumably continue his pitching journey.
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Juan Olmos signs minor-league deal with Atlanta Braves
According to the transactions log on his official roster page, Olmos signed a minor-league deal with the Atlanta Braves on Dec. 18. The transaction did not appear on the log for at least a couple of weeks after it happened in an official manner.
It wasn’t hard to examine Olmos’ stats and figure out where the young right-hander struggled this year. In his 16 1/3 innings of work, he walked an incredible 19 batters, translating to a 2.31 WHIP. It’s a small sample size, but it’s clear that the 21-year-old is not a finished product.
If Olmos somehow goes on to become a star in Atlanta, it will still be at least a few years before the Royals feel any of the ramifications. But they had four seasons to work with him, so it would have to bug them that they never found a way to make him work out.
Minor League Baseball is so vast, though, that it’s hardly an organization’s fault whenever a player in rookie ball struggles to succeed. The Royals will sign a dozen more players in Olmos’ shoes and hope one of them makes it to the big leauges one day.
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