The Twins' Wednesday-afternoon lineup includes right fielder Chris Colabello, who's a) making his major-league debut, and b) is one of the more unlikely major leaguers we'll ever see. Colabello's 29, which makes him unlikely enough. But what makes him really unlikely is that he wasn't drafted or signed out of college, and spent his first seven professional seasons in the independent Canadian-American Association. Most of those seasons with the Worcester Tornadoes.
Chris Colabello, Interesting Baseball Player
USA TODAY Sports
Finally, after posting big numbers with Worcester in 2011, Colabello signed with the Twins and spent 2012 in Class AA. Which brings us to spring training this season, where I’ll let MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger pick up the story:
Colabello’s success in Double-A earned him his first shot in big league camp this spring and so far he’s taking advantage of it.
--snip--
Colabello’s next stop, however, will be with Team Italy, as he’s set to leave for Arizona on Sunday to participate in the World Baseball Classic. It’s a special honor for Colabello considering he spent part of his youth in Italy because his dad played for eight years in an Italian baseball league, and even represented Italy in the 1984 Olympics and pitched against Team USA at Dodger Stadium.
Colabello opened this season in Triple-A, and hit well enough to merit a call-up to the short-handed big club. And if all that’s not interesting enough, Colabello has made exactly two regular-season plays in the outfield in the last two years. It’s already interesting, and might become an adventure!
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