U.S. Olympic baseball silver medalist Nick Allen makes MLB debut

U.S. Olympic baseball silver medalist Nick Allen makes MLB debut
20/04/2022
The 23-year-old middle infielder played second base and batted ninth for the Oakland A's in a 2-1 win against the Baltimore Orioles.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist Nick Allen made his Major League Baseball debut on Tuesday, 19 April. Allen played second base and batted ninth for the Oakland A's in a 2-1 win against the Baltimore Orioles.

Allen was one of three substitute players Oakland added Monday to replace players on the COVID-19-related injury list.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle that his first time at the Oakland Coliseum "amazing."

"I was always trying to imagine what it would look like, and it's even better in person," added Allen.

Allen's parents were at the stadium to witness his debut.

"I called my dad, and it was really cool. He started tearing up," Allen said. "He and my mom just helped me so much throughout my whole life, so it was really great giving him that news that it worked out."

Allen, 23, impressed at the Double-A level during the 2021 season, posting a .319 batting average over 50 games.

He helped the United States qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games, starting four games at shortstop in the Americas qualifier in Florida.

In the Tokyo Games, he was USA's starting shortstop. He went 5-for-21 (.286) with a home run and didn't commit an error.

After the Olympics last year, he played 39 games at the Triple-A level, sharing his time between second base and shortstop.