3/2/2020

6:45 PM

Jose Bautista, who is better known for his “Bat Flip Heard Around the World,” is currently attempting to return to the grandes as a two-way player. Roughly three months ago, Joey Bats squashed any idea that he would be retiring, so what has he been doing?

Bats has been working out as a pitcher, when I first saw this as a story I chuckled, what a time to be alive am I right? However, there are a few intangibles that can help Joey Bats make a move to Joey on The Bump. Jeff Passan tweeted that in his latest bullpen, he ran the on number one up to 94 mph and a slide piece that doesn’t seem ungood.

The two significant intangibles I’m referring to, the new expansion of the roster from 25 to 26, which helps some teams since there is a Two-Way Player Designation. Bats can still swing it a little, so having a two-way guy on the roster if he shows he can get outs out of the bullpen while also being a 5th outfielder/backup 1st basemen or a backup DH could help a team out. To piggyback off that until the National League gets the DH added, Bats would be an interesting add for those teams. He could come in and pitch and then turn around and hit you a bomb and not have to waste a bench guy on pinch-hitting for a pitcher.

Bats will be on the Dominican Republic team during the upcoming Olympic qualifier and will play 1st base in some capacity on this roster. Now it is unclear if Bats will get on the nipple during this qualifier, but he will have the opportunity to pick the brains of some pitchers while on this team.

Final Take:
The likelihood of Bats making this pipedream turn into a reality is dam near zero. Some intangibles can line up for him to make this happen, but until I hear and or see MLB scouts saying he can go out there and get outs, I don’t see this happening, hell I hope he can do it I enjoy stories like this.