By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA Whether Jose Bautista can provide the right-handed power the Atlanta Braves desperately need won’t be known for a month or so, not until he’s had a chance to acclimate. But this much is already certain: once he joins the Braves lineup, the six-time American League All-Star won’t be swinging his two-toned maple Marucci bat with any less ferocity than he did the past 10 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The 37-year-old “Joey Bats” signed a $1 million contract on April 18 to be the Braves third baseman. He may very well join them before the end of the month. The Jays opted not to pick up the $17 million option on his contract in October, which is why he ended up on the free market.
How he performs during a visit to Rochester this week may determine just how soon he returns to Major League Baseball. Bautista joined the Gwinnett Stripers on Monday, arriving from Florida maybe two hours before the 5:05 p.m. first pitch for the International League doubleheader against the Red Wings.
After batting leadoff in both games and going a combined 0-for-6 with two strikeouts, he said he’s not ready for big-league pitching yet. “I haven’t had enough repetitions to feel I’m there yet,” Bautista said.
The last thing he wants to do is to be in a key situation with Atlanta, facing a 2-2 pitch, and not be able to perform. That happened in Monday’s second game, when reliever John Curtiss tied him up with a perfect fastball in on the hands for a strikeout on a 2-2 fastball at 97 mph.
“I want to get more at-bats against guys that can execute in that situation,” said Bautista, who hit at least 20 home runs in each of the past eight seasons and led the AL in homers in 2010 with 54 and 2011 with 43.
What he shouldn’t be concerned about: his glove. For a guy who hasn’t called third base his full-time defensive home for 10 years, and hasn’t played there with regularity for probably five, he was flashing leather on Monday night when he played the field in Game 1.
I think the media present, especially @kevinoROC1, did a pretty good job at trying to convince @JoeyBats19 to partake in a garbage plate before he departs from Rochester // @RocRedWings @Nick_Tahou_Hots. Kevin deserves thorough respect for giving baked beans the proper attention. pic.twitter.com/xEMB5k8VaC
— Matt Trabold (@TrabsMatt) April 24, 2018
He was the designated hitter in the nightcap. He made a nice play far to his left to flag down a Kennys Vargas grounder but wasn’t able to get the out at first. In the third, he made a scintillating play on Gregorio Petit. He took a step left and flung up his glove to snare the one-hop shot and quickly turned it into a 5-4-3 double play.
“I had some some good plays,” he said. “But it’s more important to consistently be making the routine plays.”
He actually may have been most proud, however, of his defensive instincts. In the fourth inning, Gwinnett played a considerable shift against lefty Brock Stassi. The shortstop, Sean Kazmar Jr., was almost to second base, and well behind it.
Bautista was positioned essentially in what normally would be the hole between short and third. Stassi hit grounder to the right of second that Kazmar ran down and then threw to Bautista covering second for a 6-5 putout on Vargas. A right fielder playing third base making a putout a second base.
“I don’t think I’ve ever done that,” Bautista said. “The shift was never a thing when I played third. I don’t know how I reacted to that but I’m glad I did.”
While he roamed right field for the Blue Jays, the Braves signed Bautista to play third, even though their current third baseman, Ryan Flaherty, was leading the National League in hitting (.362) going into Monday night’s games.
Braves manager Brian Snitker reiterated that intent Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. “I enjoyed playing third base when I did (it before),” he said. At the plate in Game 1, he went 0-for-3, hitting a lazy fly to right to lead off the game, striking out swinging in the third and lining out to left in the sixth.
The Stripers won the seven-inning game 1-0. In Game 2, as the DH, he again led off to again ensure a maximum number of at-bats. He popped out to catcher Willians Astudillo in the first, hit a 3-0 pitch up the middle that second baseman Taylor Featherston turned into a sparkling 4-3 putout in the third, and then fanned against Curtiss as the Wings won 2-1.
His only other games this season came on the weekend. He doubled once in four at-bats on Saturday and singled once in three at-bats on Sunday with the advanced Class-A Florida Fire Frogs of the Florida State League. While he says he’s not MLB ready yet, he is excited about the Braves’ potential. “They’re so talented and so close to clicking and getting on a roll,” he said. 
Leave a Reply