Phillies prospect lives in D-backs territory

Professional baseball outfielder Cal Stevenson slid into home in February 2021, and he calls it Maricopa. 

“I had no idea about Maricopa,” Stevenson said, remembering how he found his family home here. “We saw some houses out here and we saw it was growing. I like that it’s growing and it’s growing at a pace that I like. I like the quiet stuff. It helps me relax with family.” 

The former University of Arizona baseball standout lives here with wife, Rebekah, and their two children. 

At 27, he has played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Oakland A’s and the San Francisco Giants.  

Most recently, the Phillies organization sent him to their farm team, the Triple-A Iron Pigs in Lehigh Valley, Penn. Stevenson said he hopes the Phillies will call him back up when he returns to Florida for spring training in February, “unless they trade me.” 

He’s been traded four times during his MLB career. 

“I feel like I’ve had a pretty good career with six organizations,” Stevenson said. 

Despite bouncing around the league, Stevenson said the only drawback to his career is being away from home in Maricopa seven months out of the year. 

“It’s tough being away,” he said. 

Stevenson plays all three positions in the outfield, “mostly the corners,” and he said it gives him a flexible edge in pro ball. 

Baseball fans in Maricopa might remember Stevenson is no stranger to Arizona. 

At U of A in Tucson, Stevenson was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mantion selection. He led the conference in runs scored, with 61, and 48 walks. He finished the season for the Wildcats with a .311 batting average.  

His statistics included four home runs and 30 RBI. He batted .302 in conference play and ended conference play with a .421 on-base percentage for the Wildcats squad.  

Stevenson graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in the Bay Area city of Fremont, Calif., where he was a four-year letter winner in baseball under his father and head coach, Jim Stevenson.  

Stevenson has a .208 average and a .617 on-base percentage over 77 at-bats with one homer and five stolen bases in the minor league. He went 0-9 in a brief call-up with San Francisco before going off waivers by the Phillies.  

Stevenson maintains a positive attitude about his future as a pro baseball player, saying he’s been around and “teams know about me now.”