Sean Doolittle Gets First Major-League Call-Up with Oakland Athletics

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Former Virginia pitcher/first baseman Sean Doolittle has been called up by the Oakland Athletics for the first time and will be in uniform Monday evening. Doolittle pitched and played first base for the Cavaliers from 2005-07. The Athletics play host to the Texas Rangers in a four-game series beginning tonight.

A first-round pick in the 2007 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Athletics, Doolittle is the 30th former Cavalier to reach the major leagues.

There now are six former Virginia baseball players in Major League Baseball, the most at any point in UVa history. Doolittle joins Brandon Guyer (Tampa Bay), Javier Lopez (San Francisco), Mark Reynolds (Baltimore), Michael Schwimer (Philadelphia) and Ryan Zimmerman (Washington) as former Cavaliers currently in Major League Baseball.

Doolittle was drafted as a first baseman/outfielder with the 41st overall pick in 2007 by the Athletics. After reaching triple-A in 2009, Doolittle had his career derailed by injuries. He missed the next two seasons before returning to the mound in during the instructional league in the fall of 2011. After starting the 2012 campaign at single-A Stockton, Doolittle ripped through the minor leagues. In 16 games at three levels, Doolittle posted a 0.72 ERA while striking out 48 batters in just 25 innings and limiting foes to a .096 batting average.

Doolittle played at Virginia from 2005-07 and was a two-time All-American. The 2006 ACC Player of the Year, Doolittle went 22-7 with a 2.23 ERA in his UVa career. In 222.1 innings, he struck out 243 and limited opponents to a .213 batting average. His 22 career victories ranks No. 4 all-time in the Virginia annals, while his 243 strikeouts ranks seventh.

Doolittle also hit .312 in his career (181 games) with 22 home runs and 167 RBI. He ranks second in school history in career RBI and walks (125).