A new face will be present in the Philadelphia Phillies locker room for the remainder of the season. That face is none other than Jose Bautista.
The Phillies acquire the former six-time All-Star after claiming him off waivers from the New York Mets, giving up either a player to be named later or cash in the exchange.
José Bautista has been traded to Philadelphia in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. #Mets
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 28, 2018
Phillies Acquire Jose Bautista
Bautista, currently in his fifteenth season in Major League Baseball, will bring leadership to a team of young players that, despite contending earlier than most teams thought, has fallen from grace. Prior to play on Tuesday, they have lost seven of their last ten games and find themselves three and a half games behind the first place Atlanta Braves according to MLB.com.
Can Bautista Still Hit?
For a majority of this decade, Jose Bautista was one of the more dangerous outfielders in all of baseball. According to baseball-reference.com, he hit 227 home runs and drove in 582 runs with a .945 OPS during his six consecutive All-Star seasons from 2010-2016, but, at age 37, his days as a Major League Baseball player are coming to a close.
The Phillies will be the third team which Bautista will play for this season, spending 12 games in a Braves uniform at the beginning of the season and another 83 in a Mets uniform after getting released by Atlanta and signed by New York at the end of May.
The once feared outfielder is hitting just .196 on the season with 11 home runs and 42 runs batted in this season although his on-base percentage sits at .364, giving him an OPS of .703, according to baseball-reference.com.
Smart Move By The Mets
The Mets were smart to deal Jose Bautista at this moment. As the team currently sits 15.5 games out of first place in the NL East and 25 games under .500, it is time to see what their assets for the future can do.
Bautista is not a part of the future for the Mets, and it would have been tough for him to get at-bats moving forward. Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto have not been playing to the best of their abilities this season and both dealing with recent injuries. Both of these players are under contract for at least two more seasons, and the Mets need to see if they can return to their previous form.
When it is all said and done, there was demand for Bautista and the Mets were wise to move him for an asset, whether it be a minor league player or cash considerations.
Impact For the Phillies
Bautista’s impact in Philadelphia will be stronger off the field rather than on it.
While he has been getting on base, his performance this season is a shell of his prior work, and he will be best suited in a bench role with the likes of Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams, and Odubel Herrera patrolling the outfield and third basemen, Maikel Franco, hitting 22 home runs with an OPS of .798 so far this season.
Bautista has playoff experience, reaching the American League Championship Series in consecutive years in 2015 and 2016 with the Toronto Blue Jays, and has stepped up in the big moment, hitting the go-ahead home run to push the Blue Jays past the Texas Rangers in game 5 of the American League Division Series in 2015.
Bautista’s greatest assets for the Phillies will be these experiences as they look for the veteran spark to help their young players rise up and finish their surprise season playing October baseball.
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