Effort, genetics and luck keys to one major league player’s success

Kids. They grow up so fast.

It seems like only yesterday that Tyler Olson was pitching for University High and looking forward to a college career at Gonzaga.

And there he was, trotting out of the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen to pitch in extra innings in Oakland and earning his first win as a major league pitcher. And a night later doing the same thing in Dodger Stadium and suffering his first loss.

Olson was a very good high school baseball player at U-Hi, and an even better role model. When he left U-Hi as a junior and spent a year in California, his teammates kept his uniform in the team’s dugout and a season later, he returned to fill it.

Football and basketball players make huge splashes when they go on to college and garner plenty of headlines. College baseball, on the other hand, rarely makes the front page. When the major leagues come calling it’s just a blip on the radar screen as college standouts head off to struggle up through the ranks of the minor leagues.

Climbing from high school stardom to a major league roster takes an incredible amount of hard work as well as an equal amount of good luck. Great talent isn’t enough – a huge pile of great talents who never made it to the majors can testify to that.

Scott Sutherland has some insights into what exactly got Olson onto the Seattle Mariners’ 25-man roster to open the 2015 season. No surprise – it wasn’t talent that separated him from the legion of wannabe major leaguers.

“He is by far the hardest working player I have ever seen as far as off-season training is concerned,” the former U-Hi coach wrote in an email. “He started it near the end of high school and just continued to sculpt his body, eat well and take physical training to another level. Whenever we would have open gyms in the winter, he would make sure to come in and throw bullpens, then help the younger kids with their mechanics.”

Throwing a baseball isn’t exactly a natural thing. The torque a major league pitcher puts on his shoulder and elbow is dramatic, especially when you look at the effort in slow motion. Rotator cuffs and elbow ligaments take a beating and too many potential careers are waylaid when the body simply breaks down from the abuse.

Hard, meticulous work isn’t necessarily a guarantee of future success, but it does increase the odds. In many ways, getting to the major leagues takes equal parts luck, hard work and a great genetic makeup. And if you have the last two factors, you can make the most of the opportunities luck offers.

Olson spent just two seasons in the Seattle minor league system, both of them as a starting pitcher. This year, he’s shows all of the signs of having made a successful shift, both physically and mentally, to the bullpen.

He threw 12 innings in spring training without surrendering a run. And his first major league appearance was magical. He came on to throw one pitch, getting Erick Aybar to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Somewhere in the deep history of baseball, another rookie had the same kind of debut, but there is no record of it.

Sutherland was in the stands last week to watch his former player make his second appearance in a Mariners’ uniform and chatted with the rookie beforehand.

“I got to see him throw in his second appearance on Wednesday night,” Sutherland said. “He is just thrilled at the opportunity and floating on air right now. He is taking it all in and keeping his eyes wide open. He is a great learner and listener and will work his tail off to stay where he is.”

Olson is the first University grad to make a major league roster and the second to wear a Seattle uniform. Outfielder Casey Parsons played for the Mariners during a September call-up.

Sutherland joked with Olson about being what he called the LOOGY (lefty, one-out guy), but can see him working into an expanded role as the season wears on. With his background as a starter, he said, he can see Olson working into the long-relief role.

“It was great seeing that success has in no way changed this young man,” Sutherland said. “The fact that he kept the unorthodox No. 66 onto the 25-man roster tells you where his head is at. He never wants to forget how hard it was to reach this level and what it takes to stay.”