Erik Ostberg will start the minor league baseball season in the location he expected, but not the situation.
The Florence native was assigned to the High-A Bowling Green Hot Rods, he said Wednesday. It was likely between there and the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in the Tampa Bay Rays system. Ostberg figured he would be better off starting in Bowling Green and playing regularly since he’d been there before.
That became more complicated when Blake Hunt was also assigned to Bowling Green. Hunt was one of the prospects Tampa Bay received for Blake Snell in December.
“It’s going to be tough for me to get on the field early. I didn’t think he was going to be in High-A,” Ostberg said. “I’m going to come from the trenches like always.”
Ostberg wrapped up extended spring training in Florida and began driving to Kentucky with some teammates Wednesday. He went 4 for 10 across a handful of spring training games and ranked high on the team’s internal metrics for exit velocity and hard hit ball percentage.
“My spring training was awesome,” Ostberg said. “I felt great, every aspect. I was getting really good, positive reviews from our coaching staff. I was satisfied with everything that I did.”
While the innings at catcher may be limited in Bowling Green, that’s not Ostberg’s only path to the lineup. He’s worked on his first base skills over the past few winters and has been an All-Star designated hitter in multiple leagues.
“I’m gonna do everything. Any way I can get into the lineup, I know I’m going to contribute with my bat,” Ostberg said. “At a certain point, they’re going to have to put me somewhere.”
He last played in Bowling Green in 2019 and fought through an injury. Ostberg, a University of Hartford product drafted in 2017, played independent ball in the Midwest last summer to stay on the field. A return to the Hot Rods and the Rays system will put him on a more direct track to the major leagues.
“I like the environment there, and I’m comfortable in that location,” Ostberg said. “I’m looking forward to getting a full year of it.”