After battling "longshot" odds, Alu making most of time in majors

Jake Alu has waited for this moment his whole life, just like any ballplayer. After four seasons of college ball and the last four seasons of professional ball in the minor leagues, he has finally made the major leagues.

The moment came on Sunday, when the Nationals learned Victor Robles needed to go on the 10-day injured list with back spasms and they needed to call up someone from Triple-A Rochester.

Alu was first in line, hopping on an early cross-country flight Monday morning and meeting the team in San Francisco ahead of their three-game series against the Giants. His lifelong dream finally came true when he entered the visitors clubhouse and stepped on the field at Oracle Park.

“It's been an incredible time. It's been a whirlwind these last three days,” Alu said Friday after the Nationals returned home to start a series against the Mets. “Getting the call and getting called into (Rochester manager Matt LeCroy’s) office and getting told you're going to the big leagues, it's a lifelong goal. It's a dream. Glad that it happened.”

He got to soak in the moment on Monday, watching the Nationals’ victory from the dugout. But he got his first official taste of the big leagues on Tuesday, when he was in the starting lineup as the left fielder batting ninth.

“Honestly, the first time running out there, I kind of gave like a 360 (degree) look around and a little pat on the shoulder like, 'You did it,'” he said. “But right when that first pitch hits, right back to baseball. Same game.”

Unfortunately, Alu finished his first major league game 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. But in a major league debut, the results rarely matter. It’s the process that led up to the moment and the response afterwards.

“I told him today, I said, 'hey, when you get to the big leagues, you typically get a mulligan. So don't worry about your first day, your nerves are flying and everything. Just go out there today and have some fun,'” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said yesterday of Alu’s debut. “I reminded him that it took me a few games before I got my first big league hit. So just go out there and just play the game. But we all know that he can hit, so just relax and have fun.”

(For the record, it took Martinez seven games to record his first major league hit.)

Alu made his second big league appearance in last night’s 3-2 loss to the Mets, again playing left and batting ninth. This time he found a bit more success, recording his first hit, stolen base and walk in the majors while also making a spectacular diving catch to rob Jeff McNeil in the fifth inning.

“There was a little release on the shoulders for sure,” he said after last night’s game of the sense he felt after his first hit. Of course, he received the ball and said he’s going to give it to his dad.

He also found playing his first game in his new home ballpark was just a bit more special.

“I think it makes it a little bit more special,” he said. “I mean, obviously, a debut is a debut, and it's something you can't describe into words. But I think being here in front of the people that supported you throughout your entire career in pro ball and do it for the people, these fans, it's going to be pretty special.”

The people that supported him throughout his career include those in the Nationals front office and on the player development staff, who helped him beat some difficult odds to make it to this point.

A 24th-round draft pick out of Boston College in 2019, Alu became the lowest drafted position player to make his major league debut with the Nationals in team history (2005-present), an achievement that highlights his hard work.

“I knew it doesn't happen without a lot of hard work,” Alu said. “And I guess just kind of look at every guy, look at the best guys out there, and I'm always just saying, ‘How can I get better?’ And seeing how can I surpass them. How can I surpass them and help the team win? Because I know at the end of the day, my job is to help the team win. So it's really important for me to just go out there and battle every pitch, battle every inning in the field, anything I can do to help. And I think that's what carried me throughout the system. And the development's been great and it's really exciting times.”

Alu has been able to hit wherever he’s played. He was a career .301 hitter at Boston College. He hit .307 in two seasons of collegiate summer league ball. He hit .303 at high Single-A Wilmington in 2021. (Remember the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) And he hit .299 between Double-A Harrisburg and Rochester in 2022.

He turned heads last year by slashing .323/.372/.553 with a .925 OPS, 15 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 45 RBIs in 59 games with Rochester after a promotion from Harrisburg in July.

Heading into this season, he’s hit .293 in almost 1,700 at-bats and 477 games over his last six seasons of baseball at any level.

But one of the biggest recognitions was when he received the Nationals Way Award as part of the organization’s 2022 minor league awards, which is given to the player “who best demonstrates the professionalism, leadership, loyalty, passion, selflessness, durability, determination and work ethic required to play the game the ‘Washington Nationals Way.’”

Even that he turned into a team accomplishment.

“I think one of the biggest things that no one really talks about as much is the clubhouse in baseball,” Alu said. “I mean, when you got a good group of guys and you got good leaders and good guys and people that really support you and help you out when you’re going through tough times, or when you're going through good times or when something comes up, they have the answer for you because they've been through it. I think it's really good to be able to have that camaraderie in the clubhouse. And to know that teammates and the staff kind of look at me that way as someone who could lead and someone who could make that clubhouse good, it's really special for me and something I take seriously.”

Now with his new major league team, he continues to carry his underdog mentality that has helped him reach this level.

“Same story. Like you said, underdog,” Alu said. “I mean, the longshot of me being here and I made it. And I'm gonna do the same thing, have that same mentality. I'm going to come and compete every single day. Like I said, try to just help the team win.”

You can watch my full interview with Alu here.