Ricardo Olivar is a name even casual Minnesota Twins fans who keep tabs on the farm system have become familiar with over the past few years.
The Twins signed Ricardo Olivar, 24, as an International Free Agent out of Venezuela on July 2, 2019. However, COVID-19 canceled the 2020 Minor League Baseball season, so he didn’t make his pro-ball debut until nearly two years after he signed on June 29, 2021, with the FCL Twins.
Olivar was signed as a catcher and has a solid bat. However, his arm has made him versatile enough to move around the diamond, and he often got occasional starts in left field a couple of times a week. Olivar is a career .279/.382/.460 hitter with 51 home runs and 233 through 406 minor league games. Therefore, he looked like a player the Twins should add to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 Draft in the last two off-seasons.
However, they never added him to the 40-man, and none of the other 29 teams took a bite at snagging him from Minnesota’s farm system. With a .277/.365/.613 slash line, 10 home runs, and 31 RBI over 32 games in Double-A to start 2026, the recently promoted Olivar is starting to make the other MLB franchises look foolish for not taking a chance on him.
“I’m excited about being here,” Olivar said through Saints pitching coach Carlos Hernandez, who translated on his behalf. “Of course, I’m grateful that I got this promotion, and I’m enjoying every moment of being at Triple-A. It’s a different level, of course, but it’s just baseball.”
Olivar’s bat is his greatest strength. Even in the upper minors, catchers struggle to string together consistent production just like their major-league counterparts. Major league catchers have put together a .224/.302/.364 average slash line this season.
The degree of difficulty between Double-A, Triple-A, and the Majors has rarely been as widespread as it is now in pro-baseball history. That’s why people take notice when a catcher who can swing a bat like Ricardo Olivar comes along.
“What I think stands out is his bat,” said teammate Kaelen Culpepper. “He can rake. He’s always done that through the ranks, like Double-A last year when I was with him. Now this year, I know he started out hot in Wichita, I mean, it was pretty loud. I paid attention to it, I kept up with the games going on down there.”
“I like Oli’s swing,” said Saints manager Brian Dinkelman, who managed him in Wichita last season. “He has good at-bats, doesn’t expand too much, and the ball jumps off his bat real well when he gets onto some.”
In his first four games at Triple-A, Olivar has gone 4-for-16 with five RBI, four strikeouts, and no walks. Even some of the best hitters struggle when adjusting to a new level. However, Olivar says it’s still the same game no matter where he’s playing, even if he’s facing more players with MLB experience.
“It’s still baseball,” he said. “Of course, I know those guys who still have more experience, but I think the key for me has been not getting too anxious, don’t try to swing at pitches outside the strike zone. Because I know they’re going to get into the strike zone because of that experience and all that, with the control and command they have with certain pitches.”
With an even-keeled mindset at the plate, Olivar has continued to put in work with his defense behind the plate. Olivar has committed a couple of errors and allowed 50 stolen bases against him in 16 games with the Wind Surge. He wants to build his pop time up to reduce the number of stolen-base attempts against him.
Olivar had only played six games in left field at Wichita before the promotion and has yet to see playing time in a crowded Saints outfield. Still, Dinkelman hasn’t ruled it out to continue putting him in the outfield if the opportunity presents itself, even if time at catcher is his primary defensive focus.
“I think for him to get to the big leagues, continue to be a catcher with his bat, getting on base, and all that,” Dinkelman said. “As long as you can catch and hit and all that, they’ll give him a chance to get over to the big leagues, but yeah. Outfield has been good, played a little catcher, and we’re excited to see him do a little bit of everything.”
Ricardo Olivar has made his case as being one of the more fun prospects to follow at Triple-A St. Paul for the rest of the season, even if he’s not often on top 30 prospect lists anymore. The skills are there, and if they can translate well in Triple-A, there’s a good chance they’ll also translate well into the majors. Because of that, he’s a guy his teammates are rooting for, too.
“That’s my guy. I mean, obviously the bat,” Culpepper said. “He can hit, he’s a specimen behind the plate, he can pick it, he can throw it. He’s a smart baseball player, sneaky athletic, not a lot of people are giving him credit that he’s pretty athletic.”
