Royals To Promote Nick Loftin
The Royals are calling up infield prospect Nick Loftin tomorrow, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He will take one of the two extra spots when active rosters grow from 26 to 28 tomorrow, but he’s not yet on the 40-man roster and will need a corresponding move to get a spot there. He’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.
Loftin, 24, was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the 2020 draft. Though he was primarily a shortstop at Baylor prior to being drafted, the Royals have pushed him towards a utility role by bouncing him around the diamond throughout his minor league career, having spent some time at all four infield positions and in the outfield as well.
He began his professional career in High-A in 2021, hitting 10 home runs and stealing 11 bases in 90 games. His .289/.373/.463 battling line amounted to a wRC+ of 130, indicating he was 30% better than league average. Last year, he got into 128 games between Double-A and Triple-A, adding another 17 homers and 29 steals. However, his overall batting line of .254/.333/.403 amounted to a wRC+ of just 91. This year, he’s primarily been in Triple-A, hitting .270/.344/.444 for a wRC+ of 95.
He is currently considered the club’s #5 prospect at Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, while FanGraphs has him at #1. The general profile on Loftin is that he may not have a standout tool but does lots of things well. He can play multiple positions while providing a bit of speed and power without striking out too much.
He would have been eligible for the Rule 5 draft in a few months and was likely going to get a roster spot at that point anyway, but the Royals will give it to him now and use the final months of the seasons to get him some big league experience. How they get him into the lineup remains to be seen. Though he’s played all over, his primary positions this year have been second and third base. Michael Massey and Maikel Garcia have been getting the bulk of the playing time at those positions lately. But with Loftin’s versatility and the Royals being well out of contention at 41-94, they should be able to spread some playing time around.
Royals Select Steven Cruz
The Royals have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Steven Cruz, the team announced. Left-handed pitcher Taylor Hearn has been optioned to Triple-A to make room on the 26-man roster. Kansas City already had a free spot on the 40-man roster, which has now been filled.
Kansas City acquired Cruz in January as part of the trade that sent Michael A. Taylor to Minnesota. Earlier this summer, FanGraphs ranked him as the no. 39 prospect in the Royals organization, praising his elite fastball that touches triple digits. However, both FanGraphs and Baseball America have pointed out his shaky command, which has remained a problem in 2023; Cruz has walked 30 batters in 49 2/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A. The tall right-hander has also had trouble keeping runs off the board since his midseason promotion to Triple-A, pitching to a 6.88 ERA in 14 games. Nevertheless, now is as good a time as any for the Royals to see what they have in the young fireballer. They sit in the basement of the AL Central, but they still have plenty of innings to fill before the year is up.
Hearn has struggled since joining the Royals at the trade deadline. In eight games, the southpaw has given up seven earned runs on twelve hits and two home runs. He made 31 appearances (13 starts) for the Rangers last season, posting a high 5.13 ERA but a more palatable 4.18 SIERA and 0.9 FanGraphs WAR. However, he failed to make the big league club out of spring training this year, and despite his 3.66 ERA at Triple-A, the Rangers designated him for assignment in mid-July. The Braves swooped in and acquired Hearn for cash considerations before flipping him to the Royals for Nicky Lopez a few days later. He made three appearances for Triple-A Omaha before he was recalled to replace an injured Zack Greinke. Kansas City can retain Hearn through arbitration next season, but he will be out of minor league options.
Bobby Witt Jr. Is Reaching His Potential
There hasn’t been much positive to say about the Royals this season. They’ve posted a brutal 41-90 record to this point in the season that places them a whopping 26.5 games back even in the extraordinarily weak AL Central, saved from sporting the worst record in baseball only by an abysmal A’s team. To make matters worse, they’re one of just two organizations without a top-100 prospect on MLB.com’s most recent rankings, joined only by the Astros, an organization that not only was stripped of its first- and second-round picks during the 2020 and 2021 drafts but also had a prospect in the top 100 until they dealt him to the Mets to reacquire Justin Verlander.
With a terrible record and a barren farm system, it’s been a difficult year for fans in Kansas City. While they entered the 2023 campaign with an interesting core of young position players, most of them have battled either injury or ineffectiveness this year- first basemen Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto are currently on the injured list, while MJ Melendez hasn’t turned out to be the successor to Salvador Perez behind the plate many thought he could become. On the pitching side of things, last year’s impressive season from right-hander Brady Singer now appears to have been a mirage and an exciting start to the season from lefty Kris Bubic was cut short by Tommy John surgery after just three starts.
Despite all the disappointments of the 2023 campaign for the Royals, there’s been one undeniable bright spot for this organization in 2023. Bobby Witt Jr. was the club’s pick with the second overall selection in the 2019 draft and tore through the minor leagues, eventually becoming the top-rated prospect in all of baseball according to both MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus ahead of the 2022 campaign. He ultimately had a respectable first season in the major leagues, playing in 150 games while slashing .254/.294/.498, an offensive performance that clocked in just below league average with a 98 wRC+.
While he managed to swipe 30 bags in 37 attempts, brutal defense at both third base and shortstop combined with an uninspiring performance on offense saw the AL Rookie of the Year favorite coming into the season slide to fourth place when all was said and done, finishing behind not only fellow exciting youngsters Julio Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman, but a relative unknown in Steven Kwan of the club’s division rival Guardians. Unfair as it may be to expect top prospects to immediately reach their projected excellence upon reaching the major leagues, Witt’s debut season was disappointing relative to the sky-high expectations in place for the 22-year-old rookie.
Early in the 2023 campaign, it appeared Witt was on base for moderate improvements, but nothing particularly eye-catching. Through the first half of the season, Witt’s defense had improved substantially as he settled in as the Royals’ everyday shortstop and he was already on his way to beating 2022’s stolen base total with 23 bags swiped in 29 attempts, but his bat was lagging behind the rest of the package. In his first 351 trips to the plate this season, Witt slashed just .244/.288/.415 with a strikeout rate just over 20%, an eerily similar slash line to the one he had posted the previous season.
Things changed dramatically for Witt once the calendar flipped to July, however. In nine games prior to the All Star break, he slashed .382/.410/.782 in 40 trips to the plate. While his strikeout rate remained elevated during this stretch, at 22.5%, his six extra base hits in so few games were virtually unheard of for him to that point in his major league career. Witt stayed hot following the break, and ended the month with an impressive July slash line of .327/.346/.633.
As impressive as Witt’s July was, he’s been even better in August. In 100 plate appearances this month, Witt has slashed a sensational .359/.410/.707 with a strikeout rate of just 11%. He has more extra base hits (15) than strikeouts (11) this month, has gone 8-for-9 on the basepaths to bring his stolen base total this year to 37. Even his walk rate, which sits at just 5% for his career, has ticked up to 8% this month. In all, Witt has slashed .347/.378/.668 with 14 homers, 14 stolen bases, and a 15.1% strikeout rate since the beginning of July.
Of course, the past two months account for just 205 plate appearances, just over a third of his total trips to the plate this year. Even so, his season-long numbers are looking mighty impressive at this point. At the plate, he’s slashed .280/.321/.508 overall this season, with a 119 wRC+ that’s a substantial improvement over last year’s below-average mark. By season’s end, he appears to be a veritable lock for at least 30 home runs and 40 stolen bases. Those offensive numbers leave out his incredible glovework this season, as well. Witt’s +13 Outs Above Average in 2023 trail only Dansby Swanson among all major leaguers. While DRS isn’t quite as enamored with Witt’s glovework this season, giving him a figure of just -2, that’s still an incredible improvement from last season, when his -22 DRS was second-worst in the majors.
Between his recent offensive explosion and season-long excellence with the glove, Witt has accumulated 5.1 fWAR through 127 games this season. That phenomenal figure places him behind only Shohei Ohtani among AL players, ahead of players in the midst of phenomenal seasons such as Rodriguez, Marcus Semien, and Luis Robert Jr. By the numbers, Witt has been virtually the same player as Mets star Francisco Lindor in terms of value, with Lindor boasting slightly better offense (124 wRC+) in exchange for slightly weaker fielding and baserunning numbers.
Perhaps most exciting of all for Royals fans is that Witt, still just 23 years old, is under team control through the end of the 2027 season. With four more seasons of their budding superstar in a Royals uniform to look forward to, the Royals still have several years to build a contender around their budding superstar and make a run at their first playoff appearance since winning the World Series in 2015 before his team control runs out and he has the option to depart in free agency.
Kansas City’s odds are particularly good considering the weak division they play in; after all, the Twins have a commanding lead for the AL Central crown this year despite a mediocre 67-63 record, and the division’s biggest spenders in the White Sox are clearly trending in the wrong direction at the moment. Despite the 2023 team’s brutal record and a farm system without clear impact talent on the way, all is not lost for the Royals going forward, and their franchise shortstop is perhaps the primary reason why.
Royals’ Jake Brentz Likely Out For Season Following Lat Strain
The Royals have been without reliever Jake Brentz for the entire season. The southpaw underwent Tommy John surgery last July and has been on the 60-day injured list since Opening Day. Brentz started a minor league rehab assignment last week, but the club announced this afternoon they were pulling him off that stint.
Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that Brentz recently sustained a lat strain (Twitter link). He’s expected to miss the rest of the year. It’ll go down as a complete lost season, as he threw all of 2 2/3 minor league innings.
Brentz, 29 next month, pitched 5 1/3 frames before last season’s elbow injury. He’d had a decent rookie campaign two years ago, tossing 64 innings of 3.66 ERA ball. He fanned an above-average 27.3% of batters faced while averaging 97 MPH on his heater. Brentz’s control was wobbly — he walked over 13% of opponents — but he boasted one of the better power arsenals among left-handed relievers.
The Royals non-tendered him last offseason but circled back in Spring Training on a guaranteed two-year contract. Kansas City is paying him $850K this season and will owe him $1.05MM next year. Locking in a salary a few hundred thousand dollars north of the league minimum could give him a leg up on a roster spot, but Brentz won’t have any 2023 work to carry into the offseason. Kansas City will have to reinstate him back onto the 40-man roster once the offseason begins.
Phillies Acquire Brewer Hicklen From Royals
The Royals announced that outfielder Brewer Hicklen has been traded to the Phillies. The return on the deal wasn’t listed, though trades of this nature usually see cash considerations going the other way. Hicklen was eligible to be traded after the deadline because he wasn’t on a 40-man roster or major league injured list at any point this season.
[Related: How to Acquire Players After the Trade Deadline]
Hicklen, 27, will join a new organization for the first time in his career, as he was drafted by the Royals in 2017 and has been with them ever since. He has climbed to the upper levels of the minors and even got to make his major league debut in 2022, getting into six games as a COVID replacement player but striking out in all four of his plate appearances.
He has occasionally been considered one of the Royals’ top 30 prospects, with his best attribute being his speed. He’s racked up double-digit steals in each of his professional seasons, often getting into the 30-40 range. He also has notable power at the plate but has often paired home runs with big strikeout totals.
He spent most of last year at Triple-A, getting into 130 games there. He hit 28 homers and swiped 35 bags but was also punched out in 36.1% of his plate appearances. His .248/.348/.502 batting line still amounted to a wRC+ of 122, despite the strikeout concerns. Here in 2023, he’s been back in Triple-A, getting into 61 contests. He’s reduced his strikeout rate to 24.6% but with diminished production overall. His .233/.338/.451 line translates to a wRC+ of 93, though he’s added another 15 steals in that time.
Rosters are set to expand from 26 to 28 players in September, a time when many clubs like to add a speedy player to the bench for pinch running purposes, a role that Hicklen would certainly be a good candidate for. By acquiring him prior to September 1, he will also be eligible to join the Phils in the postseason. He will qualify for minor league free agency at season’s end if not added to the 40-man roster. For now, he’ll add some minor league depth behind the club’s regular outfield of Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber, Johan Rojas and Jake Cave.
Reds Targeted Brady Singer at Trade Deadline
The Reds reportedly targeted Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer at the trade deadline, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Needless to say, their efforts were unsuccessful, as Cincinnati’s only move at the deadline was to trade for Athletics reliever Sam Moll.
It’s no surprise that the Reds were searching for starting pitching. Entering the deadline, their starters had a 5.21 ERA, and four-fifths of their Opening Day rotation was either on the injured list or had already been released. According to a report from Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Reds were even willing to trade Jonathan India, once thought to be an untouchable piece of their core, to acquire young, controllable pitching. They were also linked to Eduardo Rodriguez and were said to be scouting the Mets, possibly with interest in Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander.
The 27-year-old Singer meets the young and controllable criteria better than any of those veterans; he is under team control through 2026. Furthermore, unlike Rodriguez, Scherzer, and Verlander, he doesn’t have any no-trade protection in his contract, so he couldn’t have vetoed a deal to the borderline-contending Reds. In other words, he made good sense as a target for Cincinnati on a relatively thin trade market.
Singer looked like a solid, mid-rotation starter right out of the gate in 2020, pitching to a 4.06 ERA in 12 starts. However, he ran into trouble down the stretch in 2021, posting a 5.70 ERA in the second half. The Royals moved him to the bullpen to open the 2022 season but quickly changed their minds, sending him to Triple-A to ramp back up into a starting role. Upon his return from the minors, he looked better than ever, putting up a 3.11 ERA and 3.43 SIERA in 24 games.
Unfortunately, Singer ran into another rough patch at the start of the 2023 campaign. After 15 starts, he was sporting a 6.34 ERA and 4.67 SIERA in 76 2/3 innings pitched. Since that day, however, the right-hander has turned things around once again. In nine outings, he has a 3.05 ERA and 3.90 SIERA while averaging nearly 6 2/3 innings per game. He cut his walk rate without sacrificing strikeouts, and he’s allowing far less hard contact, too. That’s exactly the kind of pitcher he looked like last season.
Ultimately the Royals were not compelled to trade Singer. He had only just begun to reverse his fortunes by the deadline, and Kansas City had little reason to sell low on such a promising arm. He still has three years of arbitration eligibility ahead of him, and it’s possible the Royals could be competitive in the AL Central within that time. If not, they still have ample opportunity to find a trade.
Similarly, the Reds weren’t facing any pressure to make a major deal. With so many talented young players under team control for the next several years, their competitive window is just beginning to open. They could have used another starter for the stretch run, but surely they were hesitant to add a pitcher who had struggled most of the season.
If Singer continues to succeed over the next six weeks, the Reds might be inclined to check back in with the Royals this winter. Cincinnati has several promising arms on the roster, including Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Graham Ashcraft, and Lyon Richardson, but this team could certainly use a more established starter to anchor the rotation. The Reds have one of the better farm systems in the game (N0. 12 at Baseball America, No. 5 at MLB Pipeline), while the Royals have one of the worst (No. 29 at BA and MLB Pipeline), so Cincinnati should have all the necessary pieces if they decide to make a deal.
Nick Wittgren Elects Free Agency
Aug. 17: Wittgren has now formally elected free agency, the Royals announced.
Aug. 16: Royals reliever Nick Wittgren is expected to elect free agency, reports Anne Rogers of MLB.com (Twitter link). He was optioned to Triple-A Omaha this afternoon when Kansas City selected John McMillon onto the big league club.
An optional assignment doesn’t typically allow a player to become a free agent. Players with over five years of major league service, however, have to consent to being optioned. Wittgren has between five and six years of service time, so he’ll have the ability to look elsewhere rather than head back to Omaha. Assuming he indeed chooses free agency, the Royals’ 40-man roster count will drop to 39.
Wittgren signed a non-roster pact with K.C. last December. He worked to a 1.25 ERA over 21 2/3 frames with Omaha, leading the Royals to select his contract at the end of May. The right-hander has since made 27 appearances, working 29 innings in generally low-leverage situations. He owns a 4.97 ERA in that stretch.
That’s marginally better than Witttgren’s run prevention marks of the past two seasons, though it’s quite a bit worse than the combined 2.97 ERA he posted in 112 appearances from 2018-20. Wittgren posted solid strikeout numbers during that peak but has seen the whiffs drop off significantly of late. He fanned a below-average 14.1% of opposing hitters with Kansas City on the heels of a 12.7% strikeout rate with the Cardinals a season ago.
Still, Wittgren should at least find minor league interest elsewhere on the strength of his early-season Triple-A production. He fanned over 24% of batters faced in Omaha, where he kept his walks to a modest 7.6% clip. Wittgren has been a solid strike-thrower throughout his career, walking 7% of opponents through 329 1/3 MLB innings.
Should he sign elsewhere by September 1, Wittgren would be eligible for postseason play. He’d have reached free agency at season’s end if the Royals had kept him on the major league roster. With the club clearly in evaluation mode, it’s sensible they’d prefer to give some innings to the hard-throwing McMillon down the stretch.
Royals Select John McMillon
The Royals announced that they have selected right-hander John McMillon. In corresponding moves, right-hander Nick Wittgren was optioned to Triple-A while righty Brad Keller was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
McMillon, 25, was signed by the Royals in 2020 as an undrafted free agent. Since then, he’s climbed the minor league ranks by racking up huge strikeout totals, but also demonstrating a clear lack of control. He spent last year in Single-A, tossing 31 innings at that level with a 6.10 earned run average. He struck out 30.8% of batters faced but also walked an eye-popping 26%.
Here in 2023, he’s already covered three levels, going from Single-A to High-A and Double-A. He’s thrown a combined 51 1/3 frames between those stops with a 2.10 ERA. The 12.4% walk rate is still on the high side but a massive improvement over last year. He hasn’t lost any strikeout stuff either, punching out 45.3% of opponents.
With those extremes in his performance, there’s naturally some variation in the evaluations on his abilities. FanGraphs ranked him the #11 prospect in the system last month while Baseball America recently pegged him at #29. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs highlights McMillon’s fastball and slider, giving both pitches a 70 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale, adding that the righty could be an elite reliever right now with better control.
The Royals are well out of contention with a record of 39-82, second-worst in baseball with only the A’s beneath them. They can use the remainder of the season to give McMillon a shot at getting big league hitters out, skipping him over Triple-A, at least for the time being.
As for Keller, his transfer is largely a formality since he’s already been on the IL longer than 60 days, landing there back on May 19 due to right shoulder impingement syndrome. He started a rehab assignment in June but his discomfort eventually returned, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. He started another rehab assignment earlier this week but will have to ramp up and stay healthy before he’s likely to be activated. He’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season.
Royals Claim Bubba Thompson, Option Edward Olivares
The Kansas City Royals announced that they have claimed Bubba Thompson off waivers from the Texas Rangers. He has been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. In other roster news, the Royals reinstated Drew Waters from the bereavement list, optioning Edward Olivares to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
The Rangers DFA’d Thompson on Friday to make room for J.P. Martínez on the 40-man roster. Thompson, a first-round pick in the 2017 draft, had been playing for the Triple-A Round Rock Express following a poor start to the season at the MLB level. In 37 games with Texas, he hit .170 with a 41 wRC+ and -0.1 FanGraphs WAR. He was demoted at the end of May.
Thompson has yet to live up to his former top prospect status, but still just 25 years old, he is far from a bust. He looked like a legitimate bench piece last season, batting .265, stealing 18 bases, and finishing with a 77 wRC+. Moreover, despite his disappointing slash line this year, he increased his walk rate, decreased his strikeout rate, and showed off a little more power. He continued to demonstrate his improved plate discipline at Round Rock, compiling 19 walks (and two HBP) compared to only 28 strikeouts in 149 trips to the plate.
Thompson should have a better chance to make his way back to the majors in Kansas City, but he’ll need to continue to show improvement at Triple-A. If he’s able to take steps forward at the plate, he could be a useful contributor since his speed and defense give him a solid floor. The Royals already have two young, right-handed-hitting outfielders on the big league roster, Samad Taylor and Nelson Velázquez, in addition to the switch-hitting Waters. Olivares and Nate Eaton are also waiting in the wings at Omaha.
After a promising cup of coffee last season, Waters got off to a slow start in 2023. An oblique injury kept him on the shelf until late May, and he was hitting .239/.293/.354 with a 76 wRC+ entering the All-Star break. Since then, however, he has a 107 wRC+ in 23 games. His 11 RBI in that time are tied for fourth on the Royals, while his 12 runs scored are tied for fifth. He returns to the team after missing the minimum of three days on the bereavement list.
Olivares had a mini breakout in 2022, finishing with a 110 wRC+ in 53 games. However, he pulled that off thanks to a career-high .344 batting average on balls in play. His BABIP has fallen below league average this season, and his triple slash line numbers have dropped in accordance – despite the fact that he’s striking out less often and hitting for a little more power. Meanwhile, Velázquez, whom the Royals promoted on Thursday to replace Waters on the roster, has hit a home run in each of his last two games. He’ll get the chance to stick with the big league club for at least a little longer.
José Bautista To Officially Retire
José Bautista hasn’t played in a big league game since 2018 but had never officially retired in the years after his last appearance. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was among those to report today that Bautista will sign a one-day contract with Toronto to officially retire as a Blue Jay, as part of the ceremony wherein he will be added to the club’s Level of Excellence on Saturday.
Bautista, now 42, didn’t have the typical path to baseball stardom as he wasn’t a high draft pick or top prospect. The Pirates selected him in the 20th round of the draft in 2000 and he would get some modest attention from prospect evaluators after that, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system in 2002 and #7 in 2003.
In 2004, he had an especially unusual season, getting selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. As the season wore on, he was claimed off waivers by the Devil Rays, then was subsequently traded to the Royals, Mets and back to the Pirates. He would stick with the Pirates for a few years, mostly as a third baseman but also playing some outfield. He showed glimpses of his potential at the plate, hitting 16 home runs in 2006, 15 the year after and another 15 in 2008.
That 2008 season saw him traded to the Blue Jays in August for a player to be named later, which was eventually revealed as Robinzon Díaz. A fairly forgettable transaction at the time, it would later prove to be the start of the defining era of Bautista’s career.
His first full season as a Blue Jay wasn’t especially noteworthy, as Bautista hit 13 home runs in 2009, though there were a few developments that would prove to be important in later years. He began incorporating a leg kick into his swing and also started to spend more time in right field, with his strong throwing arm a good fit for that spot.
In 2010, at the age of 29, Bautista broke out in stunning fashion. He launched 54 home runs for the Jays that year, setting a new single season record for the franchise. He also showed a keen eye at the plate, drawing walks in 14.6% of his plate appearances. His .260/.378/.617 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 165, indicating he was 65% better than the league average hitter. The Jays decided to bank on that breakout, giving Bautista a five-year, $65MM extension that covered his final arbitration season and four free agent years, with a club option for 2016.
He followed that up with an even better season overall. His home run tally dropped to 43 in 2011, but his patient approach allowed him to take advantage of pitchers giving him less to hit. He was walked in 20.2% of his trips to the plate in 2011, leading to a .302/.447/.608 slash line. His 180 wRC+ was the best in the majors that year and would eventually prove to be his personal best as well. He was considered to be worth 8.1 wins above replacement by FanGraphs and 8.4 by Baseball Reference. He came in third in AL MVP voting behind Justin Verlander and Jacoby Ellsbury.
His production would continue in fairly similar fashion for years to come, defined by both his power output and on-base abilities. From 2012 to 2016, he hit between 22 and 40 home runs each year with his walk rate never finishing below 13.1%. Despite that excellent production, and that of another late-blooming star in Edwin Encarnación, the Jays struggled to push too far beyond .500 in most of those seasons.
The 2015 season finally changed that, with the Jays aggressively bolstering the roster by adding Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and others in the offseason. The trade deadline saw further aggression, with the club adding a batch of players headlined by Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. The moves paid off when the Jays surged in the final months of the season and finished 93-69, winning the American League East and cracking the postseason for the first time since 1993.
Bautista’s first opportunity to play in the playoffs would lead to a singular moment and image that are now cemented in the minds of millions of baseball fans. The Jays squared off against the Rangers in the Wild Card series, which had a best-of-five format at that time. The Jays lost the first two games but rallied to tie it up and force a fifth contest.
In the deciding game, the Jays fell behind in the top of the seventh 3-2 on a strange play wherein Rougned Odor scored when Martin’s attempted throw back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo and ricocheted away. Home plate umpire Dale Scott initially ruled the ball dead but the umpiring crew eventually allowed the run to score. That soured the mood in the stadium, with many fans throwing debris to express their displeasure.
In the bottom of the frame, several defensive miscues from the Rangers allowed the Jays to tie the game up before Bautista launched a two-out, three-run home run to give the Jays a 6-3 lead. Bautista reacted to the emotionally-charged atmosphere by flipping his bat high into the air, which proved to be controversial in some baseball circles, though it would quickly become an iconic moment among Jays’ fans. Toronto held on to win that game but would lose to the Royals in the ALCS.
After Bautista’s extension ended, the Jays gave him a $17.2MM qualifying offer for 2017. He rejected that and became a free agent but eventually returned to Toronto via a one-year, $18.5MM deal. He still hit 23 home runs and walked in 12.2% of his plate appearances, but his overall production fell to .203/.308/.366 and a wRC+ of 81.
In 2018, he returned to the journeyman status that started his career, bouncing to the Braves, Mets and Phillies. He didn’t sign with a club in the years to come, though he did reportedly consider a comeback as a two-way player in 2020, but later threw some cold water on those reports. He played for the Dominican Republic team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed to 2021 by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now it seems his playing days will be officially ended during this weekend’s festivities, tying a bow on one of the more unique baseball journeys. Though Bautista began and ended his career as a journeyman, he had a late bloom that led to a lengthy stretch as one of the best players in the league. From 2010 to 2015, he hit 227 home runs, easily the most in the league for that time with Miguel Cabrera second at 199. He slashed .268/.390/.555 in that time for a wRC+ of 156 and tallied 33.2 fWAR, that latter figure placing him sixth among position players. His 60 outfield assists in that stretch were topped by just three other big leaguers. He engineered many memorable moments during that peak, too many to list here, featuring both his tremendous talents as well as his fiery and standout personality.
Over his career as a whole, he played 1,798 games and took 7,244 trips to the plate. He launched 344 home runs and walked at a 14.2% rate, leading to a .247/.361/.475 batting line and 126 wRC+. He had 1,496 hits, 1,022 runs scored, 975 driven in and stole 70 bases. He tallied 35.3 fWAR and 36.7 bWAR. He made six straight All-Star teams from 2010 to 2015, led the league in home runs twice, earned a couple of Hank Aaron awards and three Silver Sluggers. As a Blue Jay, his tallies of 38.3 bWAR and 36.2 fWAR are both the best in franchise history among position players, with only Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay ahead of him overall.
We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Bautista on an incredibly special career and wish him the best in all his post-playing endeavors.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.