Aaron Blair to become the first Hop in MLB

April 23, 2016

The wait is over. The first ever Hillsboro Hop to crack a Major League Baseball roster is Aaron Blair. He will debut for the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, April 24 against the New York Mets. He was a member of the 2013 Hops and was involved in the 2015 offseason trade that also sent Hops shortstop Dansby Swanson to the Braves in exchange for starting pitcher Shelby Miller.

The Braves have sputtered out of the gates and are expected to struggle in 2016. One man’s struggle is another’s opportunity, and Blair has received one after Atlanta demoted starting pitcher Williams Perez following last Wednesday’s loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Around the time Perez was struggling, Blair was in the middle of throwing seven no-hit innings for the Gwinnett Braves, Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate. Atlanta’s President of Baseball Operations, John Hart, was in the front row for Blair’s start and understandably came away very impressed. It just so happens that Sunday falls on exactly five-days rest for Blair, and he will be pitching in his normal slot in the rotation.

Aaron Blair is the first former Hop to make it to the Major Leagues. (Craig Mitchelldyer/Hillsboro Hops)

Blair will toe the rubber against the defending National League champion Mets, and his opponent on the mound will be Jacob deGrom, the electric 2014 Rookie of the Year.

Aaron Blair was the 36th overall selection in the 2013 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Marshall University. His first assignment in his professional career was to us here in Hillsboro. He started eight games for the Hillsboro Hops, logging a 1-1 record with a 2.90 ERA over 31 innings.

He flew through the minors and finished the 2014 season pitching for the Double-A Mobile BayBears. He was invited to big-league spring training where he pitched well and put himself on the radar of Diamondbacks’ brass. His highly anticipated debut was expected by some in 2015, but Arizona elected to stash Blair in Mobile and Triple-A Reno for the entire 2015 season. He clearly didn’t need much more seasoning, as he has been promoted in 2016 following just 19 innings in Gwinnett.

His debut comes for the Atlanta Braves following the blockbuster trade between Atlanta and Arizona at the 2015 Winter Meetings, and though he is no longer a D-back, he will always be a Hillsboro Hop.

Go get’em Aaron!

Written by Hillsboro Hops Professional Baseball Posted in Uncategorized