By Jordan Long
The Atlanta Braves decided to release Jose Bautista. Atlanta agreed to a deal with him on April 18th on a minor league contract. They were hoping he would bolster the starting lineup once he made the Major League Club.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Bautista appeared in 12 games for the Braves. In those games, he wasn’t driving the ball at the plate. He hit .143 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI’s. Bautista was swinging at pitches out of the zone and struck out 12 times. It was time to let him go. According to ESPN, Braves General Manager Alex Anthopoulos said, “As we looked at it, knowing there weren’t going to be at-bats for Jose, that’s not fair to him. We talked to [Bautista] last night, and just talked it over with him. … We agreed that if there wasn’t going to be at-bats and playing time here, that’s not right for him.”
The Braves felt this was the right decision. They want Johan Camargo to play more. With Bautista in the lineup that wasn’t going to happen. Camargo is hitting .215 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI’s in 25 games. Those numbers are better than Bautista.
For Bautista this gives him a fresh start. There might be a team who will take a chance on him because of his ability to drive the ball. It may not be for a while. Bautista needs to work on his swing. If he has another opportunity this season, he needs to make the most of it. He failed to do so with Atlanta. Time will tell but Bautista deserves another chance.
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