Colorado Rockies: Noel Cuevas has earned a chance to prove himself

“There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” —Derek Jeter

To play baseball at the highest level requires an incredible amount of natural talent and hard work. For some, their talent speaks for itself, carrying them through the minors at a rapid pace.

On Sunday, the Washington Nationals promoted outfield phenom Juan Soto to the big leagues. The 19-year-old Soto is the youngest player in the big leagues and the youngest National since Bryce Harper.

Soto appears to be one of those guys who was just born with it. I mean, the kid has racked up an astounding 52 RBI in only 39 minor league games this season.

This shouldn’t discount the hours of hard work players like Soto put in. They’re just born with something else.

For others, the journey through the minors takes several years of hard work, grinding out at-bats, and late-night bus rides. It takes them through times when they may begin to question their abilities and times when they wonder if they’ll ever have enough to make it to the majors.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham spent 12 years bouncing between the minors and the big leagues, never even playing half a season in the majors until last year when he played a career-high 128 games at the age of 29 … a full decade older than Soto.

Despite the shortened season, Pham finished 11th in MVP voting in 2017 and he’s off to another hot start this year.

It took a lot for Pham to reach Major League Baseball. Colorado Rockies outfielder Noel Cuevas is another one of these players.

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Even for fans who follow the team closely, Cuevas was likely not a familiar name entering this season.

But now he’s earned a chance to prove himself at the big-league level.

Cuevas was born in Puerto Rico, but attended high school at Montverde Academy in Kissimmee, Fla., just south of Orlando.

He played baseball for the Montverde Academy Eagles, but only appeared in 14 varsity games from 2006-2008, hitting .308.

After graduating in 2009, Cuevas returned to Puerto Rico to attend the Universidad Interamericana in San Juan.

In 2010, he was drafted out of the Universidad Interamericana by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 21st round of the June Amateur Draft and began playing rookie league baseball at the age of 18.

Cuevas put his speed on display in the minors.

He stole 38 bases for the Dodgers’ A+ club, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, in a breakout 2013. That campaign earned Cuevas a promotion to Double-A in 2014, but he struggled there, only hitting .231.

Following that season, he came to the Rockies as the player to be named later when right-hander Juan Nicasio was traded to the Dodgers.

In 2017, Cuevas began to draw some attention, hitting .312 for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes with 12 triples, 15 home runs, and 79 RBI.

Continuing his strong play into the start of 2018, Cuevas was promoted to the big league club after a slow (1-for-23) start by Mike Tauchman.

After years of hard work, Cuevas made his major league debut on April 22 at the age of 26.

He admitted to the Denver Post‘s Kyle Newman, that there were times during his eight-plus minor league seasons when he would doubt whether he would make it out of the minors.

"“(Doubt) crept in many times in my journey,” Cuevas said. “I was a 21st-rounder, so I didn’t necessarily get the opportunities that the first-rounders got. Everything that I have, I had to earn, and that’s something that obviously today I can say helped me value this chance, and appreciate it more.”"

Now he is making the most of his opportunity.

Whether he’s in the batter’s box, in the outfield, or just getting coffee for his teammates, Cuevas has made an impression.

He is hitting .306 with a home run and 3 RBI through his first 22 games and has shown off his speed in the outfield, flashing the leather with this diving catch on Sunday:

Cuevas has come up with some big hits already in his young career.

His first big league home run came in the fifth inning at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres last Monday and put Colorado up 3-2 in a game they would eventually win 6-4.

“There may be people who have more talent than you, but there’s no excuse for anyone to work harder than you.” —Derek Jeter

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