Jose Bautista (bautijo02)
From BR Bullpen
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 192 lb.
- School Chipola Junior College
- Debut April 4, 2004
- Born October 19, 1980 in Santo Domingo, D.R.
[edit] Biographical Information
Jose Bautista was picked in the 20th round of the 2000 amateur draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates but did not sign until the next year. In '01, the 20-year-old hit .286/.364/.427 for the Williamsport Crosscutters. The next season, Jose batted .301/.402/.470 for the Hickory Crawdads. He missed time in 2003 due to a right hand injury and only managed to hit .242/.359/.424 for the Lynchburg Hillcats and he hit .348/.429/.522 in 7 rehab games for the GCL Pirates.
That winter, Jose was part of the Dave Littlefield debacle of leaving numerous prospects unprotected. Along with Chris Shelton, he was one of five Pirates taken in the first six picks of the Rule V Draft as other teams fed on the exposed prospects. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles and went 3 for 11 with a walk for them. The O's placed him on waivers on May 25 and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays took him. He was 2 for 12 with three walks there and placed on waivers again. Before any team claimed him, the Kansas City Royals bought his contract. For KC, he was 5 for 25 with 12 strikeouts, continuing to see a wasted season like so many Rule V picks - but a much more eventful one in terms of transactions. He was only with the Royals for just over a month, as on July 30, he was dealt to the New York Mets in exchange for Justin Huber. His New York time was the shortest of any of his five clubs that year as they swung him the same day in a deal to...who else but Pittsburgh all over as part of a package with Matt Peterson for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger. With the 2004 Pirates, he struck out 18 times in 40 AB. During the year, he hit .205/.263/.239 in 88 AB over 64 games, not getting a chance to develop a rhythm at the plate and used mostly in difficult roles off of the bench.
Pittsburgh named Bautista their minor league player of the year after a .283/.364/.503 year with the Altoona Curve in 2005 (23 homers, 90 RBI). He also hit .255/.309/.373 with the Indianapolis Indians and .143/.226/.179 with Pittsburgh. He made the Eastern League All-Star team and Baseball America rated him as having the top infield arm in the league.
In 2006, Jose began the year at Indianapolis and hit .277/.370/.426. When Joe Randa was hurt, Bautista was called up to back up as a utility man. With center fielders Chris Duffy and Nate McLouth struggling, Bautista was given regular time in center and showed good power and ability to draw a walk. Through August 8, he was hitting .255/.358/.456 for the 2006 Pirates but he finished the year at .235/.335/.420 with a late slump, only hitting .207 in the second half. He did smack 16 homers in the majors.
After a solid winter-ball campaign, Bautista struggled in spring training but was still named the starting third baseman with Freddy Sanchez moving to second and José Castillo moving to the bench. Castillo had been the subject of criticism from both manager Jim Tracy and shortstop Jack Wilson over the off-season.
Bautista missed time in July of 2007 after slicing his hand on Chipper Jones' cleats on an attempted steal of third base and was put on the DL.
Bautista helped the Tigres del Licey to victory in the 2008 Caribbean Series. He hit .250/.385/.600 for the second-best slugging percentage on Licey and one of the better OBPs. He led the team in walks (5), runs (6) and home runs (2) and tied for the RBI lead (4) while playing center field, left field and third base. He tied Miguel Tejada and Roberto Saucedo for the Series lead in homers. He drove in both runs in the first Licey victory over their archrival, the Aguilas Cibaeñas, and scored two runs in the finale against the Aguilas. Jose had the first 4-hit game of his major league career on May 31st, 2008. Bautista hit .237/.318/.396 for a 89 OPS+ for the Bucs that year. He became expendable when Pittsburgh traded for prospect Andy LaRoche; earlier in the season, Pittsburgh had spelled him regularly with Doug Mientkiewicz, not historically a third baseman. He only started 3 of 12 games after the deal, then was demoted to the Indianapolis Indians when Adam LaRoche came off the DL. Bautista said "It doesn't feel good." In 5 games at Indianapolis, Jose was 6 for 20 with 3 walks, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 6 runs and 8 RBI. He was then traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later (Robinzon Diaz). Following the trade, he hit .214/.237/.411 in 21 games as a utility infielder and DH for the 2008 Blue Jays.
In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Bautista was 1 for 3 off the bench. He pinch-hit for David Ortiz with one on and two outs in the 9th inning in game one against the Dutch national team but struck out against Leon Boyd to end a 3-2 upset. He pinch-hit a single off Manuel Corpas in the game two win over Panama. In game three, he replaced Willy Taveras in center field. In the 11th inning, he faced Boyd with Jose Reyes on. He hit a fly to right but Eugène Kingsale made an error, allowing Reyes to score and give the Dominicans a 1-0 lead. Carlos Marmol failed to protect it, though, and the Dutch rallied to eliminate the Dominican Republic.
He returned to the Blue Jays in 2009, platooning in left field with rookie Travis Snider and backing up veteran Scott Rolen at third base.
Sources include 2001-2006 Baseball Almanacs, unofficial Pirates e-mail list
