Versatile Oakland A’s waiver claim is showing that bloodlines matter
A's utility player Tyler Nevin is the son of Phil Nevin, a former MLB player and manager who is a friend and former teammate of Mark Kotsay.
OAKLAND — It was another day of the grind for Tyler Nevin, further validating what he heard from his father the day he was drafted nine years ago.
The good news was Nevin hit his fourth homer in a month since joining the Athletics and later had an infield single to extend his hitting streak to nine games in a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at the Coliseum.
The bad news was Nevin had a pair of throwing errors from third base, neither of which cost the A’s.
Yet there’s no denying that Nevin, son of former 12-year major leaguer and manager Phil Nevin, has given the A’s a spark since he was claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles on March 31.
Nevin will be in the lineup Friday when the surging Athletics (15-17) begin a three-game series against the Miami Marlins (8-24). Where Nevin will play is an open question, with consistency and versatility the key to remaining a factor in the A’s lineup.
In 25 games, Nevin has started at five different positions (six in right field, four in left field, four at first base, four at third base, and three at designated hitter). He’s hitting .325 with four homers, 10 RBIs, and an OPS of .875 on a team that has won seven of 10 games despite some struggles on offense.
At the recently concluded NFL draft, 49ers general manager John Lynch — a San Diego area native like the Nevin family — opined that he believed in bloodlines. Any player who was the son of a former player, especially if he were with the 49ers, would get a long look.
Nevin, who turns 27 this month, has bloodlines of which A’s manager Mark Kotsay is acutely aware. Phil Nevin starred at Fullerton State before Kotsay arrived, hitting 39 home runs and driving in 184 in three college seasons. In 1992, Nevin won the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top college player.
Three years later, Kotsay, who also starred at Fullerton, also won the equivalent of the college baseball MVP.
They didn’t play together at Fullerton, but both were Southern California prep baseball legends who were acquainted and became close friends on the San Diego Padres from 2001 through 2003. Both were molded by college baseball coaching legend Augie Garrido, a firebrand who finished his career at Texas and passed away in 2018.
“I knew Augie a bit in his late years,” Tyler Nevin said. “I think he had toned it down a little bit, but I think my dad and Kots are cut from the same cloth and that was probably because they played for Augie. They played hard every inning.”
Given that connection, it’s hardly a surprise that the A’s claimed Nevin off waivers, a move questioned by some fans on social media. When Nevin arrived, Esteury Ruiz, who had a league-leading 67 steals as a rookie last season, was sent to Triple-A.
Ruiz is back and playing part-time. Nevin, for the time being, is making himself indispensable.
Nevin and Kotsay rightly play down their connection because baseball is a hard business, and there’s no guarantee it will have much to do with the future. But Kotsay doesn’t deny there are similarities between Phil and Tyler Nevin.
Tyler Nevin’s penchant for seeing pitches and grinding out at-bats is a familiar look.
“Phil was a really good professional hitter as well, and you see a lot of the same traits in Tyler,” Kotsay said. “The thing about bloodlines and genes, when you grow up around the game, you understand the intricacies, the detail it takes to be a big leaguer.
“When they’ve been around it, there’s an innate ability to walk in and know where they’re supposed to be, what they’re supposed to be doing, and how it’s supposed to be done.”
Kotsay has a 16-year-old ballplaying son in the San Diego area who aspires to be a big leaguer. He’s had a “talk” with his son about the long odds of making it that far if only to warn him of what was ahead in terms of competition.
Tyler Nevin received a similar talk from his own father the night the Colorado Rockies drafted him in 2015.
“Everybody was celebrating with a bunch of close friends,” Tyler Nevin said. “I hugged him goodnight, told him I was going to go to bed, and he said, `All right, tomorrow the real work starts. It’s going to be harder than it ever has been before.’ ”
True enough, it hasn’t been easy. Nevin was traded to Baltimore in 2020 and has been designated for assignment by Detroit and Baltimore. Given that Baltimore’s roster is loaded with home grown prospects, Nevin was surprised to get the latest call from the Orioles for spring training.
He was sent packing despite a solid spring training during which he hit .333 and had two homers and seven RBIs in 23 games, yet he was grateful for the chance to compete.
“They were honest with me when I first got there that they’d give me an opportunity but it was also for 20 other teams,” Nevin said.
Tyler said he texts or talks with his father daily. Phil Nevin managed the Los Angeles Angels in 2022 and 2023 and is currently out of baseball, but can watch his sons Tyler and Kyle (a single-A player for the Dodgers).
Having a famous baseball father has been a blessing rather than a criticism-filled curse.
“I embraced it,” Nevin said. “I thought it was fun. I played confident as a kid and basically thought, I am Phil Nevin’s kid.’ In pro ball, you hear, `You’re never going to be as good as your dad.’ But I always thought it was something to be proud of and not something to fear.”
Nevin’s future with the A’s is off to a promising start. His multi-position ability is a plus, and his hot streak has included some good fortune — bloop hits and seeing-eye grounders to go along with the occasional power.
“The at-bats have been great,” Kotsay said. “He’s really just starting to come into his own, and you can see that in his level of confidence.”