On February 12th, the RailCats re-signed 27-year-old INF Olivier “Brick Wall” Basabe, who coined his nickname last season after making unbelievable plays at 3rd base! Basabe, who is from Venezuela, was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 8th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. He played in the Padres organization from 2017 to 2022, with the highest he would reach being Double-A in 2021. He played in 71 games, having a slash line of .195/.272/.288 and an OPS of .560, recording 42 hits, 34 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 17 batted in.

After the 2022 season, he would play for 2 American Association teams. He played 20 games for the Kansas City Monarchs and 50 games with the Kane County Cougars. In that season with both teams, he played in 70 games, slashed a .292/.335/.472 with an OPS of .798; he had 77 hits, 31 runs scored, 16 doubles, 7 home runs, and drove in 34.

Last season with the RailCats, Olivier played in 99 games, which led the team. He slashed a .247/.326/.355 with an OPS of .681. He scored 40 runs, which was tied for second best, had 87 hits (3rd best), led the team in doubles with 20, was tied for 1st with 3 triples, had 4 home runs, led the team with 42 RBI, and also led the team in walks with 38.

Olivier was solid last season; he started the season a little slow, even though he was getting at least one hit a game. However, he would also have 4 or 5 at-bats. Not until he played against his former team in Kane County early in May did he start to get more hits in games; he went 5 for 5 in that May 24 game, scoring twice.

What stood out the most with Oliver was his defense, and when he was hot at the plate, you knew it was going to be a fun day at the park. If Basabe could get to his form with Kansas City/Kane County, Basabe could end up being the RailCats’ MVP next year.

WELCOME BACK TO THE SOUTHSHORE!!