Blair Calvo’s Baseball Journey
It has been a long and winding journey to get to Grand Junction for pitcher Blair Calvo. That journey included three different colleges, two draft days, and Tommy John surgery. It all began back in Calvo’s hometown of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida where he grew up in an athletic family.
“I have two brothers. One of them played football and wrestled in college. My brother that’s a year older than me, he’s a pitcher too. He played throughout college at USC Aiken. He’s actually a pitching coach at Flagler College. We talk a lot about pitching.”
Calvo started playing T-ball when he was five years old and grew up in the game playing travel ball with the Orlando Scorpions. While he may not have gone to many spring training games in Florida, he definitely became familiar with their facilities.
“I played at a lot of the spring training facilities like the Tigers and the Red Sox like JetBlue Park and those kinds of places.”
Calvo went to Allen D. Nease High School where he drew attention with his 9–0 record and 0.79 ERA. A few of the smaller Division I schools reached out to Calvo but he decided on Eastern Florida State College because of head coach Jeff Tam.
“He’s probably the one that I attribute the most of my success as a baseball player,” Calvo said. “He kind of took me as an undeveloped high school player and kind of shaped me into the pitcher I am today. I didn’t really have the body. I didn’t make pitches to get outs but I was able to throw like 90-plus miles an hour. He got me in the weight room, showed me how to long toss properly, and developed me at a young age.”
While at Eastern Florida, Calvo put up strong numbers. His career stats with the Titans are 12 appearances, 74 innings pitched, 19 walks, 77 strikeouts, and an ERA of 0.97. In 2016, Calvo was drafted in the 31st Round of the MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers. However, Calvo decided to stay in school and try to develop more as a player before he made the transition to pro ball.
“I wanted the opportunity to go to a four-year school and get a little more of my degree knocked out but it led me to the Colorado Rockies so it all worked out.”
The four-year school that Calvo decided on was the University Of Pittsburgh.
“They got to me very early after my freshman year. It was the first big-time school that had ever really talked to me from the ACC and that sort of stuff. It seemed like a good fit.”
However, an unforeseen setback derailed him for the 2017 season just as he was getting ready to transfer to Pitt.
“It was towards the end of my sophomore year at Eastern Florida and I just felt my arm pop. It was torn. I wound up going to Pittsburgh and had the Tommy John surgery and it all worked out.”
Calvo redshirted for a year and sat on the sidelines rehabbing to get back into playing shape.
“It’s definitely really frustrating watching for a whole year just wishing you were out there, watching your teammates grind through the season and then just not being able to help out. It’s a frustrating process but I wound up coming back fully healthy after a year.”
Calvo returned to the mound in 2018 where he made 13 appearances with a 1–5 record and a 5.24 ERA through 46.1 innings with 19 walks and 45 strikeouts. Despite the comeback, Calvo said it wasn’t the right fit for him.
“I loved the players there and made some friends there that I’ll have the rest of my life. The baseball is top notch at a top level. It wasn’t a good fit for me baseball-wise. You can’t go from D1 to D1 without sitting out a year and my time clock didn’t allow for that so I just kind of wound up going back home to Flagler College.”
With a change back to familiar scenery, Calvo made 13 appearances for the Saints posting a 2–3 record and 4.96 ERA through 49 innings with 14 walks and 53 strikeouts. As draft day rolled around once again, he thought he might have a shot at getting drafted again.
“There were about six or seven teams with serious interest but the Rockies and the Phillies were the two highest on me. Every time they would come up, I would kind of hold my breath a little. I didn’t know when I would go. I was hoping it would come sooner rather than later just because of the anticipation and then I felt a big sigh of relief when I finally heard my name called. It was awesome.”
The Colorado Rockies drafted Calvo in the 23rd round of the 2019 draft and he was assigned to Grand Junction. He said he’s learning a lot and just enjoying the ride.
I love every day of it whether I’m pitching or not. Just being around this group of guys is an amazing experience and I’m getting to travel. I’ve never really been out west before and it’s cool to wake up every day, go outside, and there’s a mountain range,” Calvo said. “It’s a whole new experience. I just want to develop and become a better pitcher every day. If I can get a little bit better every single day, the over three or four years that will hopefully put me on track to make it to the big leagues.”
