Zach Remillard, in the Chicago White Sox system since 2016, gets his big-league call-up: ‘Always been a dream of mine’
Zach Remillard walked into the visiting clubhouse at Dodger Stadium on Thursday as a major-leaguer for the first time.
“I don’t know that it’s hit me yet,” Remillard said before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “Some things haven’t really settled in.”
Remillard moved up from Triple-A Charlotte when the Sox placed Yoan Moncada on the injured list with lower back inflammation.
The infielder has been in the Sox organization since 2016, when the team selected him in the 10th round of the draft out of Coastal Carolina.
“It means everything,” Remillard said. “You play since you are a kid with a dream in your heart to get to this level and compete at the highest level in the world.
“It’s always been a dream of mine and I owe it to a lot of people in my life and my family. It’s been an emotional day. I’m excited to be here.”
Remillard’s family was scheduled to join him in Seattle as the Sox began a three-game series Friday against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
“He showed me a little bit of everything (during spring training),” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said Thursday. “He played eight positions on the field. He’s extremely versatile, can pinch run, can hit. Gamer, takes a walk. Winner.
“You name it, I’m happy for it, I’m happy to have him here. He’s a baseball player. He’s a good asset to our ballclub.”
Remillard is hitting .236 with 10 doubles, five home runs, 25 RBIs, 33 walks, 41 runs and 13 stolen bases in 59 games with Charlotte.
He displayed his versatility at Triple A, appearing in 18 games at first base, 16 at third, 11 at shortstop, six each at second and in left field, three at designated hitter, two in right and one in left. Remillard set career highs in several categories, including on-base percentage (.373), runs (83) and stolen bases (19) last season with Charlotte.
He has a career .253/.326/.378 slash line with 110 doubles, 11 triples, 57 home runs, 268 RBIs, 71 stolen bases and 377 runs in 694 games during seven seasons in the Sox minor-league system.
Remillard found out he was headed to the majors after being pulled Wednesday during Charlotte’s game.
“I was two at-bats into the game, and (Charlotte manager Justin) Jirschele called time at the beginning of the inning and pulled me out of the game,” Remillard said. “I knew something was up and hopefully it was good news, and it ended up being good news. I got to enjoy that with teammates. It was a cool experience, something I’ll never forget.
“He told me when I was entering the dugout and the team erupted a little bit. It was a cool moment. It was special for sure.”
The first person he called was his wife, Rachel.
“She has been in the trenches with me and there for me every step of the way,” Remillard said. “Don’t get me wrong: My family was a close second. I called my parents and brother right away. But yeah, my wife is a part of what I do every day and she’s as much in it as I am.”
Rachel said during a phone interview Friday with the Tribune that she was at a client dinner while traveling for work conference in New York and initial declined his call and then thought, “He’s supposed to be at a game, why is he calling me?”
She glanced at a text from her mom and asked to step out for a moment.
“My reaction was just shock,” she said. “We always obviously dreamed of that call for a long time. That dream was his and eventually one that he shared with me. I never really knew what it was going to be like, but it was crazy.
“It’s been inspiring to me to have a front-row seat to it and watch him kind of be broken down and then built back up multiple times and hold on to a promise and a faith that he had throughout the whole time. It’s been really fulfilling.”
She made the trip to Seattle, as did Zach’s mom, Jen, and dad, Ernie, his brother Will and sister-in law Mary.
Remillard’s time in Triple A started with a game in Durham, N.C., in 2021. And the Knights were in Durham again Wednesday when he got the promotion to the big leagues.
Then came the adventures in travel.
“I went from Raleigh (N.C.) to Denver to (Los Angeles), straight to the field,” Remillard said. “Running on adrenaline for sure.
“(I’m) just taking it all in, enjoying it. Fortunately I’m in a place where I played with a lot of these guys going through the system. You kind of have that comfortability in the clubhouse, so it’s nice.”
Remillard is appreciating the journey.
“I’ve always been grateful for the opportunity to play wherever I had the chance,” Remillard said. “Not everyone gets to play this game, even at the level of Triple A.
“You have those dreams. If you take it a day at a time and stay grateful, when that day comes, you are just prepared and ready to go.”
