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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
CHICAGO — The Arizona Diamondbacks‘ sixth overall pick in the amateur draft in 2021 was at Panera Bread when he got the call Wednesday that he was joining the big league club in Chicago for his MLB debut.
Shortstop Jordan Lawlar, 21, batted eighth against righty Javier Assad and the Chicago Cubs in Thursday’s 6-2 win.
In his first at-bat, Lawlar grounded out to first in the top of the second inning. He got his first career hit in the fourth inning on an infield single.
For the game, he was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
“Just have to be myself and try to do anything I can to help this team win when my name is called,” Lawlar said before the game about his debut. “It’s one of the historic parks. Anytime you can open here… it’s going to be special.”
Lawlar was the No. 25 prospect in ESPN’s midseason rankings.
He was promoted to the majors on the basis of a hot streak at Triple-A Reno where he hit .358 with five home runs in 16 games. He’ll play mostly against lefties, but Arizona manager Torey Lovullo put him in the lineup right away to get him acclimated to his new surroundings.
“I want him to get all the nervous jujus out of there,” Lovullo said. “He’s going to be jumping out of his skin for a little while. I want to capitalize on the momentum of how he’s been doing and the energy of how he’s feeling.”
Lawlar wasn’t necessarily destined to make the majors this season after struggling at Double-A Amarillo earlier in the year. He credited his coaches there for helping him through his struggles, which led to his promotion to Triple-A and now the big leagues.
“I’ve always tried to control the controllables,” he said. “That’s all you can do in baseball.”
His familiarity with a young Diamondbacks team should make the transition to the majors a bit easier.
“I’ve been around these guys a lot,” Lawlar said. “Seen a lot of these faces outside the field so it’s nice to have them on your first day up.”
Lawlar compiled a .910 OPS last season playing at four different levels of the minors but stalled at Double-A for most of this year, as he hit only .263 in 89 games. But changes to his approach at the plate made the difference, and even though the Diamondbacks are in a playoff race, they’re willing to give Lawlar a chance to help them down the stretch.
Arizona started the day a half game out of the third wild-card spot in the National League.
“It’s a great day for this organization,” Lovullo said. “It’s a great day for a lot of people that have touched his development. A lot of people are really excited, me included.”
The Diamondbacks are hoping a three-week burst from Lawlar can make a difference for them — before the league makes any adjustments to him.
“You get a certain number of at-bats, probably two or three weeks, and then the league starts to pay attention to what you do well,” Lovullo said.
Arizona and Chicago, separated by four games in the wild-card race, are meeting for the first time this season and will play seven of their next 10 games against each other.
“We knew that these days were coming,” Lovullo said. “We have them for seven games. We’re behind them in the standings. We have to be at our competitive best.”