20-year-old Olivarez makes Cactus League debut

Monday’s contest was a tough six-inning affair for pretty much everybody in purple. Let’s forget about most of it for a brief moment, and focus on the young man that closed it out.

20-year-old Helcris Olivarez has arrived—sort of.

We may not see him in the big leagues for a while, but against the Dodgers on Monday, it was his live fastball and exciting delivery that gave the Rockies a fresh taste of what is to come. “He probably has the highest upside of any of our young pitchers in the minor leagues,” as Bud Black said after the game in Glendale.

Olivarez faced nine hitters, most of them Dodger minor leaguers. His outing wasn’t flawless—let’s face it, Monday was tough for all Rockies…