Rafael Bautista (baseball)

Bautista signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent on January 9, 2012.^[1] He began his professional career in 2012 with the rookie–level Dominican Summer League Nationals in the Dominican Summer League,^[2] where he batted .329 with 25 runs batted in (RBI) and 47 stolen bases.^[3] In 2013 he played in the rookie–level Gulf Coast League for the Gulf Coast League Nationals,^[2] who that year finished their regular season with a record of 49–9, giving them the highest winning percentage (.845) for a full regular season ever achieved by a minor-league baseball team based in the United States.^[4] The team then won all three of its playoff games, defeating the Gulf Coast League Pirates in a single-game semifinal playoff and sweeping the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in the best–of–three league championship series, to become the 2013 Gulf Coast League champions.^[5][6] Bautista appeared in 52 games during the championship season, batting .322 with one home run, 27 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases.^[2]

Bautista spent 2014 with the Single–A Hagerstown Suns in the South Atlantic League,^[2] hitting .290 with five home runs, 54 RBIs, and 69 stolen bases.^[3] He split 2015 between the High–A Potomac Nationals in the Carolina League, the Low–A Auburn Doubledays in the New York-Penn League, and the Gulf Coast League Nationals,^[2] batting a combined .275 for the year with a home run, 14 RBI, and 26 stolen bases,^[3] and over the 2015–2016 offseason played in the Dominican Winter League with Leones del Escogido.^[2] Bautista advanced to the Double–A Harrisburg Senators in the Eastern League for the 2016 season,^[2] hitting .282 with four home runs, 39 RBI, and 56 stolen bases. On November 18, 2016, the Nationals added Bautista to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.^[7] He again played winter ball with Leones del Escogido during the 2016–2017 offseason.^[2]

Bautista began the 2017 season with the Triple–A Syracuse Chiefs in the International League.^[2] The Washington Nationals promoted him to the major leagues for the first time on April 29, 2017.^[8] He made his major league debut on April 30 in a 23–5 Nationals victory over the New York Mets at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., batting twice and going 0-for-2 against Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki, who was making his first–ever major league appearance as a pitcher.^[9] On May 6, in a 6–2 Nationals victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, he made his first career major–league start, playing right field, and got his first career major–league hit, a single through the infield off Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez.^[10] The Nationals optioned Bautista back to Syracuse on May 8.^[11]

The Nationals recalled Bautista on August 27,^[12] but optioned him back to Syracuse the next day.^[13] They called him back up again on September 7,^[14] and he finished the regular season with the Nationals. He completed the season having played in 17 major–league games, batting .160 with four hits – all singles – in 25 at–bats, scoring two runs, and with a slugging percentage of .160 and an on-base percentage of .222.^[15] In the minor leagues, Bautista played 43 games for Syracuse and 13 for the GCL Nationals during 2017.^[3] He hit a combined .259 for the two teams, with 14 RBI and nine stolen bases.^[3]

Bautista participated in 2018 major–league spring training before the Nationals optioned him to the Triple–A Syracuse Chiefs on March 14.^[3] He was reassigned to the Double–A Harrisburg Senators on April 2^[3] and began the season with them, but was promoted back to Syracuse on April 12.^[3] He had made 45 plate appearances for Syracuse, batting .429 with a .966 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS)^[16] when, on April 24, the Nationals called him up to the major leagues.^[17] He appeared in nine games, usually as a late–game replacement or a pinch–runner, made one start, and went 0–for–6, striking out once and scoring a run^[3][16] before the Nationals optioned him back to Syracuse on May 7 to make room on their 25–man roster when they activated right–handed relief pitcher Shawn Kelley from the 10–day disabled list.^[18] Bautista made another 46 plate appearances for Syracuse, batting .300 with a .749 OPS,^[16] before colliding with another player during a game against the Rochester Red Wings at Rochester, New York, on May 17, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament, lateral collateral ligament, and meniscus in his left knee.^[16] The injury required season-ending surgery.^[16] He ended his season with an overall .303 batting average in the minor leagues, with three doubles, a triple, a home run, seven RBI, and six stolen bases for the year.^[3] On June 9, the Nationals released Bautista to make room for Adam Eaton on their roster when they activated Eaton from the 60–day disabled list.^[19] On June 13, Washington re–signed Bautista to a minor league contract.^[20]

In 2019, Bautista played for Double–A Harrisburg, Single–A Hagerstown, and Low–A Auburn, slashing .182/.256/.255 with two home runs and nine RBI across 29 games between the three affiliates. Bautista did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21] On November 2, 2020, he elected free agency.^[22]

On November 12, 2020, Bautista re–signed with the Nationals on a minor league contract.^[23] Bautista was assigned to the Triple–A Rochester Red Wings to begin the 2021 season. He elected free agency on November 7, 2021.

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)