Jimmy Van Ostrand was brought in as the program’s director of player of development on July 28, 2015.
Prior to coming to Arizona, Van Ostrand served as a volunteer coach for Boston College for two seasons (2014, 2015), where he primarily worked with hitters, corner infielders and prepared scouting reports and defensive alignments. He also helped coach outfielder Chris Shaw, who was drafted as the 31st overall pick by the San Francisco Giants in the 2015 MLB Draft. He was Boston College’s highest draft pick since 2009.
Van Ostrand also brings eight years of international and minor league playing experience to the Wildcats.
The Vancouver, B.C., native had been a member of the Canadian National Baseball Team since 2007. He played in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, three Baseball World Cups, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2011 Pan American Games. He drove in the only two runs for his team in the Pan Am Championship game to lead Canada to a 2-1 victory and the gold medal over the United States. In the Olympics, he was 4-for-14 with two RBI and helped the Canadians bring home bronze medals in both the 2009 and 2011 World Cups.
Van Ostrand played for California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) in 2005 and 2006. He earned NCAA West Region Scholar-Athlete and first-team all-conference honors. As a Mustang, he batted .317, tallying 114 hits, 74 RBI and 17 home runs. He was drafted in the eighth round by the Houston Astros in the 2006 MLB First-Year Players Draft and spent eight seasons playing in the minor leagues, eventually reaching the Triple-A level. In 2011, he earned Houston Astros MiLB Organizational All-Star honors, recording a .306 batting average to go along with 48 RBI, 22 doubles, 11 homers and 43 walks, playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks. VanOstrand retired from baseball following the 2013 season, finishing his career with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs in the International league.
Van Ostrand earned his Bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from Cal Poly in 2008.
