Jose Bautista still attempting comeback as two-way player, Marcus Stroman approves
Former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista hasn’t appeared in an MLB game since 2018, and it feels like a lifetime ago that we learned that he was reportedly trying to make a comeback as a two-way player. It was only early March, but so much has changed since then — the coronavirus, social distancing, the suspension of all sports — that it legitimately feels like a year ago.
Time may have no meaning anymore, but Bautista is still working on that comeback. Now we have video of him pitching, courtesy of his former teammate Marcus Stroman. Stroman was the first person to alert the world about Bautista’s attempt at pitching, and he’s given Bautista his stamp of approval.
Since y’all thought I wasn’t being serious when I said it the first time...my bro @JoeyBats19 could EASILY pitch in a big league bullpen. Easily. Sinker, slider, and changeup are MLB ready! pic.twitter.com/L533VFKp2e
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) April 7, 2020
Glove-side sinker...🤢🤢🤢 @PitchingNinja @JoeyBats19 pic.twitter.com/tpxeNs7UVf
— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) April 7, 2020
Recognizing that a home video shot in someone’s yard isn’t going to tell the full story, Bautista looks decent. Even ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who wrote about Bautista’s two-way comeback attempt last month and watched video of him pitching, admitted that he looks legitimate.
I've seen video of Jose Bautista throwing a bullpen session. Couldn't tell the velocity, but one source said he can run his fastball up to 94. His slider had legitimate tilt -- threw a short one and a bigger bender. @STR0 said in January he could pitch in a big league bullpen.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 2, 2020
Bautista is 39 and his ability to hit has seemingly deserted him (he hit just .203/.348/.378 in his 122-game final season), and those things combined makes him a hard sell for teams, even those in desperate need for help. While the suspension of the 2020 season puts Bautista’s comeback attempt on hold, it gives him more time to work on something he could conceivably get better at: pitching. We don’t know when MLB will come back to us, but it looks like Bautista is using his extra time wisely.
Bautista does have one firm baseball date on his calendar: February 2021. That’s when the World Baseball Classic is supposed to take place, and Bautista had planned to play for the Dominican Republic as a first baseman. With sports suspended around the world until who knows when, the fate of the WBC is very much up in the air. Regardless of what happens with that, Bautista’s comeback attempt seems destined to continue.
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