Octavio Ojeda

An infielder by choice, Octavio Augie Ojeda is a professional baseball player from the United States of America. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Ojeda is a right-hander who bats as a switch hitter. In 1996, the Baltimore Orioles drafted Ojeda in the 13th round of the MLB draft but due to the summer Olympics in 1996, he only managed to play for the team in 1997.

He played at the minor leagues for A-Frederick Keys, AA-Bowie Bay Sox and AAA-Rochester Red Wings. His batting average through the three divisions was at an impressive .344 while he had 57 walks compared to 39 strikeouts, showing a patient batting style with great understanding of the plate. In 1999, he was traded out to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Richard Negrette.

At the AAA-Iowa, in 2000, Ojeda produced a .280 batting average in 113 games. He made his Major League debut in June, where he was called as team rosters were allowed to expand. In the Majors, his batting average ended at .221 in the first season. His performance kept falling and hit an all-time low after he only managed an average of .186 in 2002, and as a result, he was sent down to the minors again.

In the AAA division, he found his touch back and came back to the Cubs with an Average of .299 in the AAA. The Minnesota Twins claimed him off waivers in the end of 2003.

A month later, he was released by the Twins, only to be signed up again a couple of days later. He spent the next two years in the AAA divisions for the Twins, batting at just .245 but when called up to the majors in August, turned things around by hitting .339 till the end of the season. His contract ending, Ojeda was a free agent again and the Cubs came back for him in 2006. Shortstop for Iowa in the AAA division, he hit .248 with the bat and also made his first appearance as a pitcher.

At the end of the season, he was allowed to become a free agent by the ball club and Ojeda signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Spring Training. He began the season at AAA-Tucson, with the Diamondbacks, and earned a call-up in June of 2007. His batting record at the majors was .274 and he even pitched in an inning. In 2008, he is playing the role of a utility fielder for the D-backs.