Mike Olt is one step closer to potentially getting back into the big leagues. The Branford native was recently called up to the Boston Red Sox Triple-A minor league affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox, and he’s been tearing the cover off the ball for the past few weeks.

Olt, a 2007 Branford High School graduate, has played in 135 Major League Baseball (MLB) games between three seasons with the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Chicago White Sox, most recently appearing in an MLB game in October of 2015. Last year, Olt signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox and spent the 2017 season with the organization’s Double-A affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs, batting .245 with 16 home runs and 57 RBI.

After playing seven Spring Training games with the Red Sox this year, Olt began the season with the Sea Dogs and started off by going 0-for-10. Then on April 10, the Red Sox organization called up Olt to Triple-A to play for the PawSox. The change of scenery is fitting Olt like a custom batting glove as he’s been producing at the plate from the moment he got his promotion.

In 14 games with Pawtucket, Olt is batting .261 (12-for-46) with seven doubles, three home runs, 11 runs scored, and 11 RBI, including a few game-winning hits along the way. He’s also drawn 12 walks and has a .414 on-base percentage to complement his .609 slugging percentage. Olt, a 6-foot-2 right-hander, has been primarily batting third or fourth and is seeing time at first base, third base, and designated hitter for the PawSox, who play their home games at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Olt had his breakout game with Pawtucket on April 16, when he went 4-for-4 with three doubles, a home run, and four RBI in a 9-6 win at the Columbus Clippers. On April 20, Olt hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the PawSox a 5-4 victory against the Gwinnett Stripers.

On April 23, Olt got another big hit as he crushed an extra-inning grand slam to lift the PawSox to a 6-4 win at the Toledo Mud Hens. He also hit his seventh double in that game and finished the night with five RBI. Then on April 27, Olt homered and scored three runs, including the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, when Pawtucket notched a 9-8 victory at the Buffalo Bison.

Olt, 29, was a three-time All-State player for the Branford Hornets and guided the team to a state championship in 2006, in addition to helping the Branford Senior American Legion baseball team claim state and Northeast Region titles in 2005 and 2007.

Olt hit 23 home runs with 76 RBI to make the All-Big East Team as a junior at UConn in 2010, after which he was selected by the Texas Rangers with the 49th pick in the first round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Olt made his MLB debut for the Texas Rangers on Aug. 2, 2012, hitting a single in his first plate appearance. Nine days later, Olt got a pinch-hit, walk-off single to give the Rangers a 2-1 win versus the Detroit Tigers. He played in 16 MLB games that year.

Olt was named the Rangers’ Minor League Player of the Year for 2012, but then spent all of 2013 in the minors, and was traded to the Chicago Cubs that July.

Olt had a solid Spring Training with the Cubs in 2014 and started on Opening Day. He hit his first MLB home run in Pittsburgh on April 3 and wound up hitting 12 homers with 33 RBI in 89 games for the Cubs that year. Olt was sent down to Triple-A in July and then recalled to the majors in September.

In 2015, Olt made the Cubs out of Spring Training again and got another Opening Day start. He went on the 60-day disabled list after suffering a hairline fracture in his right wrist and was sent to the minors upon being activated. The Cubs later designated Olt for assignment, and he was claimed on waivers by the Chicago White Sox in September. On Sept. 16, Olt hit a home run to become the only player in MLB history to homer for both the Cubs and White Sox in the same season. He played 24 games with the Cubs and six games for the White Sox in 2015.

Olt was released by the White Sox during Spring Training of 2016 and picked up by the San Diego Padres. He batted .255 in 49 games in Double-A that year, before seeing his season end due to plantar fasciitis in both of his feet. Olt had surgery on his right foot that year.

Following the 2016 season, Olt became a free agent and signed with the Boston Red Sox in February of 2017. He played in four Spring Training games and was then assigned to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.

Olt spent last year with the Sea Dogs, stuck with the Red Sox organization in the offseason, and then saw some more time in Spring Training this year. After starting the season with the Sea Dogs, Olt received his call-up to Triple-A to play for Pawtucket.

For his MLB career, Olt has 59 hits, including nine doubles and 16 home runs, with 37 walks, 32 runs scored, and 43 RBI. Of his 135 games, he’s started 73 at third base, 20 at first base, one game in right field, and three games as a designated hitter.