Jose Bautista: Now a two-way player?

Even after having been out of the MLB for over a full season, slugger Jose Bautista wants one final crack at it - and this time, as a two-way player...

For a 39-year-old baseball player that has made a living on smashing baseballs out of the ballpark, you would think that any sort of a comeback effort would rely on what made you famous in the first place, right? Wrong. Simply ask Jose Bautista.

In a reported comeback effort that involves a foray into life as a first baseman with the Dominican Republic team that is trying to qualify for the Olympics, the former slugger has visions of coming back as a two-way player, with his sights set on being a two-pitch pitcher and a slugger at the plate.

An unnamed source told Jeff Passan that Bautista’s fastball sits at 94, which is not necessarily a shocking thing, especially considering that he was once measured at 96.6 MPH on a throw from right field to home plate in 2018 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

While a throw from the outfield grass that allows you to get a running start is obviously not something that should be pulled from and extrapolated across other statistical categories, the fact of the matter is that Jose Bautista has a cannon, and he is trying to use it to get back into the league.

He apparently also boasts a slider that has natural movement, which can be attested to by New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, who quote-tweeted one of Passan’s tweets about Bautista’s comeback efforts, saying “Facts!” to a tweet about the speeds and movements of Bautista’s two pitches.

Profiling as a reliever and not a starter, Bautista’s heat and natural-action slider could be valuable to a club potentially if they have decidedly exhausted all other viable options. But the fact of the matter remains that Jose Bautista, who is the holder of 344 dingers, is trying this as a last gasp effort, and his determination should be applauded even if he does not make it back into the league.

Having last played in the MLB back in 2018, Bautista is currently on the wrong side of 30, and is almost on the wrong side of 40. Even as he has been working out as a pitcher in an attempt to try and make it back into the league, any sort of a comeback made this late in his career may go unwarranted.