Although former major leaguer Jose Bautista hasn't played in MLB since 2018, he was still trying to carve a path back to the bigs this spring - but not necessarily as a moonshot master.
"If they had given me a chance to pitch, I would’ve taken it," Bautista said during Friday night's watch party of his iconic 2015 home run on Sportsnet. "(Pitching) is just always something that I’ve been obsessed with."
Word spread Bautista was toying with the idea of serving as a two-way player for the Dominican Republic in the Olympics this winter and he received some tips from former Toronto Blue Jays teammate Marcus Stroman. Stroman stoked the flame when he posted video of Bautista throwing from a mound in Tampa.
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
The COVID-19 outbreak has put the pursuit on hold, and Bautista acknowledged the chances of him returning as a reliever are slim. But the 39-year-old hasn't ruled it out.
"Pitching is pretty hard," Bautista said. "Your arm has to be in extremely good shape. I’m not going to sit here and try to tell anybody, let alone myself, that I’m ready to go through a major-league season as a pitcher. That’s a pretty tough task. But you never know."
Even if he does return as a hurler or two-way player, Bautista will be remembered as one of the most fearsome sluggers of his era, particularly during his tenure in Toronto. In parts of 10 seasons with the Blue Jays, he made six All-Star rosters while batting .253/.372/.506 with 288 home runs and 766 RBIs. Bautista led the majors in long balls in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11 to coincide with consecutive top-five finishes in AL MVP voting.
