Oswaldo Arcia

From BR Bullpen

OswaldoArcia2.jpg

Oswaldo Celestino Arcia

  • Bats Left, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 0", Weight 210 lb.

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Oswaldo Arcia made his major league debut in 2013. His brother, Orlando Arcia, has played shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Arcia signed with the Minnesota Twins at age 16; the scout was Jose Leon. He hit .293/.343/.432 and had 10 outfield assists in his pro debut with the DSL Twins in 2008. In 2009, he came stateside with the GCL Twins and produced at a .275/.337/.455 clip with 8 steals in 8 tries and error-free defense. He went 2 for 6 with a run that winter for the Tigres de Aragua in the Venezuelan League. He made very good strides with the 2010 Elizabethton Twins, hitting .375/.424/.672 with 21 doubles, 14 home runs, 47 runs and 51 RBI in 64 games. He again made no errors in the outfield. He led the Appalachian League in almost everything: average (52 points over Ramon Morla), slugging (62 points over Morla), OBP, RBI (2 ahead of Morla), hits (97, a whopping 16 ahead of Morla), total bases (174, 21 more than Morla) and extra-base hits (42, 6 more than Morla). He was second in homers (3 shy of Morla) and triples (tied for second with 7, one behind Brenden Webb) and third in doubles and runs. He joined Oscar Taveras and Javier Rodriguez as the Appy's All-Star outfielders and won the league Player of the Year. Baseball America rated him the circuit's third-best prospect after pitchers Carlos Perez and Enny Romero.

Arcia split 2011 between the Beloit Snappers (.352/.420/.704, 18 runs scored, 18 RBI, 5 bombs in 20 games), Fort Myers Miracle (.263/.300/.460 in 59 games, 53 K to 9 BB in 227 plate appearances) and GCL Twins (4 for 8, double, triple). He missed time with a right UCL strain, which was why he was with the GCL Twins (rehab assignment). Overall, he homered in 13 of 292 at-bats in 2011. Baseball America ranked him the #15 Florida State League prospect (between Tyler Thornburg and Drew Smyly) and the #5 Twins prospect (between Aaron Hicks and Levi Michael). He was added to Minnesota's 40-man roster that offseason and went 0 for 2 for Aragua that winter. The Venezuelan began 2012 back with Fort Myers and did well in 55 games (.309/.376/.517, 16 doubles, 7 homers, 31 RBI) then was promoted to the New Britain Rock Cats. After 24 games with New Britain, he was batting .323/.379/.516 with 22 runs and 25 RBI. He played for the World team in the 2012 Futures Game, which they lost 17-5. Arcia entered in the 8th, replacing Jae-hoon Ha in the lineup and manning right field, while Taveras moved from right to center (where Ha had been positioned). In his first at-bat, against Jameson Taillon, he doubled home Carlos Sanchez. In the 9th, he grounded out against Zack Wheeler. His combined batting line was .320/.388/.539 in 124 games, with 36 doubles, 8 triples and 17 homers.

Arcia started the 2013 season in AAA, where he continued to tear the cover off the ball. In his first 10 games with the Rochester Red Wings, he was hitting .394 with 2 doubles and 3 homers when he was called up to Minnesota after Darin Mastroianni went on the disabled list. He made his major league debut April 15th, going 1 for 3 while starting in left field in an 8-2 win against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He played the remainder of the season in Minnesota, except for two weeks on the disabled list in late July because of a wrist injury. He split time between left field and right field, showing good power. On September 22nd, he had a tremendous game against the Oakland A's, homering and driving in 6 runs, but the Twins still lost, 11-7, a loss that clinched the AL West title for Oakland. He finished the season at .251/.304/.430 in 97 games, with 17 doubles, 14 homers and a 102 OPS+. Playing in the Venezuelan League for the Tigres de Aragua on November 24, 2013, Arcia had a great day, hitting a walk-off homer for a 2-1 win against the Bravos de Margarita in the first game of a doubleheader, and then adding a grand slam in a 17-5 win in the nightcap.

In 2014, he played 103 games for the Twins as the team's most-used right fielder, hitting .231 with 20 homers and 57 RBI. He posted an OPS+ of 108 thanks to his power, in spite of striking out 127 times against only 31 walks. In 2015, he was injured early and once he recovered spent the rest of the year in AAA with the Rochester Red Wings. He hit .276 with 2 homers and 8 RBI in 19 games for the Twins, but only .199 with 12 homers and 41 RBI in 79 games for Rochester. His low batting average in the minors explains why he was not brought back to the Show when he was healthy. He did start the 2016 season in Minnesota and received significant playing time in April and May, playing both right field and left field, but became a bench player by early June and had only had 11 at-bats during the month when on June 16th, he was designated for assignment when Danny Santana was ready to return from the disabled list. In 32 games, he hit .214 with 4 homer and 12 RBI. He began a whirlwind big league journey, seeing time with Tampa Bay (.259 with 2 homers in 21 games), Miami (2 games, 2 plate appearances) and San Diego (.116 with 2 homers in 14 games). He spent all of 2017 in the Arizona Diamondbacks chain, then moved to Nippon Pro Baseball In 2018, playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. In 2019, he spent the year with three different teams in the Mexican League.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Sources[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Adam McCalvy: "Arcias aim to realize dream of meeting in bigs: 'I think it will be amazing for us and our family,' Oswaldo says", mlb.com, April 18, 2016. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

Retrieved from "https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Oswaldo_Arcia&oldid=1132016"