Ex-Outlaw Nava Now a Big Leaguer
June 12, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Chico Outlaws News Release
(Chico, CA. Jun 12th, 2010) Former Chico Outlaws outfielder Daniel Nava got called up to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday from Triple-A Pawtucket and will start in left field and bat ninth in the batting order in today's game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Fenway Park in an inter-league contest.
Josh Reddick was optioned to Pawtucket to make room on the roster for Nava.
Joe Blanton is today's scheduled starter for the Phillies.
Nava, the GBL's Most Valuable Player in 2007 while playing for the Outlaws, was hitting .298/8 HR/38 RBI in the International League at the time of his call-up.
Undrafted out of UC-Santa Clara where he led the West Coast Conference with a .395 average before signing with the Outlaws as a Non-Drafted Free Agent for the 2007 season. Nava went on to be named to the Baseball America Indepedent League First-Team All-Star squad and ranked as their top independent league prospect after hitting a league-high .371 with 12 homers and 59 RBI's during that magical 2007 GBL championship season for the Outlaws.
His .371 batting average, .625 slugging percentage and .475 on-base percentage are still Outlaws single-season franchise records.
After his breakout year with Chico, Nava signed with Boston as a minor-league free agent and was assigned to Lancaster (High-A) in the California League. Tearing up Cal League pitching to the tune of a .341 average with 10 HR and 58 RBIs, Nava was promoted in 2009 to Salem in the Carolina League and then to Double-A Portland for the second half of the season.
Nava's performance in Portland (.364/4/24) led to the switch-hitter starting 2010 with the PawSox.
Nava becomes the fifth player from the Golden Baseball League to make the majors, following Chris Jakubauskas, Adam Pettyjohn, Scott Richmond and Sergio Romo to the big leagues.
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