Julio Borbon

From BR Bullpen

Jump to: navigation, search

Julio Alberto Borbon

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
School University of Tennessee
High School Colegio Dominicano De La Salle
Debut June 29, 2009
Born February 20, 1986 in Starkville, MS USA

BR page

BR minors page

1 Biographical Information
2 Sources
3 Related Sites

[edit] Biographical Information

Julio Borbon made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2009.

[edit] College career

Borbon was born in Mississippi while his father (also named Julio) was teaching at Mississippi State University, but Julio Jr. grew up in the Dominican Republic. He came to the US for college and hit .350/.386/.450 for the University of Tennessee as a freshman. He did not win Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors as those went to J.P. Arencibia. Tennessee made it to the 2005 College World Series.

In the fall, Julio hit .205/.307/.273 for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod League. As a sophomore, Borbon batted .366/.412/.481 and stole 19 bases in 25 attempts. The center fielder led Tennessee in average, runs (45), hits (86), triples (5) and stolen bases.

Borbon joined Team USA for the latter half of 2006. He hit .345, second on the club to Pedro Alvarez, over the course of the summer, and led the team in runs (35) and triples (4). His 14 steals tied Jemile Weeks for the most. Borbon helped the US win Gold at the 2006 World University Championship; he led the event in average and made the All-Tournament team but Arencibia beat him out for MVP honors.

A broken ankle sidelined Borbon for part of 2007. He hit .345/.370/.506 and led the Volunteers in average once again. He was second team All-SEC and finished his Tennessee career third in school history in triples (13). The Texas Rangers picked him 35th overall in the 2007 amateur draft and he signed with the club.

[edit] Minors

Borbon hit .189/.250/.216 in 9 games in the minors in 2007, seeing limited time due to his late signing. In 2008, he hit .306/.346/.395 for the Bakersfield Blaze and .337/.380/.459 for the Frisco RoughRiders. He had 175 hits, scored 87 runs and stole 53 bases in 71 tries in a great first full year in Organized Baseball.

Borbon started 2009 strong with the Oklahoma RedHawks, hitting .298/.365/.387, scoring 53 runs and stealing 19 bases in 23 tries after 71 games. He was called up to Texas as Willie Eyre was optioned off the roster to make room.

[edit] Majors

In his MLB debut on June 29, 2009 against the Angels, Borbon hit 6th and played DH. He struck out against fellow rookie Sean O'Sullivan with the bases loaded and two outs in the first, fanned versus O'Sullivan in the third and popped out in the sixth. Hank Blalock pinch-hit for him in the 8th. He collected his first major league hit and RBI in his next game, on July 1.