MLB
Palm Desert grad Brian Serven gets called up to Colorado Rockies
Patience and persistence finally paid off for Brian Serven, a 2013 graduate of Palm Desert High School.
The talented baseball player was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2016. Six years and 339 games later, he finally got the call he’s been waiting and working for.
Serven, the 27-year-old catcher, was called up to the big leagues Tuesday and will be wearing a major league uniform for the first time when the Rockies host the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. He will likely be in a backup role Tuesday and in the starting lineup for Wednesday’s day game.
When he officially sees action for the Rockies, he will become the seventh player to come from a desert high school to play in the major leagues. He will join Angels outfielder Taylor Ward of Shadow Hills as the only currently active major leaguers.
The 6-foot, 207-pound backstop played the entire 2021 season at the team’s Triple A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, without being called up to the big leagues. He began the season in Albuquerque again this year and has been hitting well. In 77 at-bats so far this season, Serven has a .273 average with five home runs and 12 RBIs. He has an OPS of .912.
The official transaction saw struggling backup catcher Dom Nunez sent down and Serven brought up. Elias Diaz is the team’s No. 1 catcher and the only other catcher on the Rockies roster along with Serven.
Brian isn’t the only Serven on the way to Colorado on Tuesday. His father Jim Serven, currently the softball coach at Palm Desert High School, along with mom Laura and sister Kristina were taking a 3:30 pm flight to Denver. Brian’s brother and former baseball player Johnathan also plans to attend.
Desert debuts are a trend
There has been quite a surge of desert MLB debuts in recent years.
Serven makes it four desert stars to make their MLB debuts in the last four years. It’s a remarkable blitz considering there had only been three desert players ever to make the major leagues before 2018.
There was the aforementioned Ward, who played his first game with the Angels in 2018.
Serven’s high school teammate, Brooks Kriske, made his MLB debut with the New York Yankees in 2020 and pitched in 16 major league games in 2020 and 2021 with the Yankees and the Orioles after a trade. He was released by the Orioles to pursue an international opportunity. Kriske is currently a member of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan.
Tyson Miller, a pitcher who graduated from Shadow Hills, also made his MLB debut in 2020 with the Chicago Cubs. He is currently on the Texas Rangers’ Triple A team the Round Rock Express.
Until Tuesday, the most memorable part of Serven’s pro career came last season when he hit a long home run off a rehabbing Clayton Kershaw in a minor league game.
Amuse:A memory-making at-bat: Palm Desert grad Brian Serven hits epic home run off Clayton Kershaw
Serven was drafted in the fifth round by the Rockies in 2016 after an excellent career at Arizona State.
The Rockies could use the pop that Serven can provide. The two catchers who have played so far for the Rockies, Diaz and the demoted Nunez, have combined for 24 hits in 122 at-bats (.197 average) with 13 runs, 13 RBIs and two homers.
Desert Major Leaguers
Chris Clapinski (70 games): Palm Desert grad, infielder with the Marlins 1999-2000
Tony Perezchica (69 games): Palm Springs grad, infielder with the Giants and Indians from 1988-1992
Brooks Kriske (16 games): Palm Desert grad, pitcher with the Yankees in 2020-21 and Orioles in 2021, currently part of Orioles organization
Anthony Claggett (3 games): Palm Springs grad, pitcher with the Yankees and Pirates in 2009
Tyson Miller (2 games): Shadow Hills grad, pitcher with the Cubs in 2020, currently part of Texas Rangers organization
