Washington Nationals
Bautista signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent in January 2012. [1] He began his professional career in 2012 with the rookie-league-level Dominican Summer League Nationals in the Dominican Summer League, [2] where he batted .329 with 25 runs batted in (RBIS) and 47 stolen bases. [3] In 2013 he played in the rookie-league-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 Class 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 Class A Advanced Potomac Nationals in the Carolina League,the Class A Short Season 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 RBIs,and 26 stolen bases, [3] and over the 2015-2016 offseason played in the Dominican Winter League with Leones del Escogido. [2] He advanced to the Class AA Harrisburg Senators in the Eastern League for the 2016 season, [2] hitting .282 with four home runs,39 RBIs,and 56 stolen bases,and after that season the Washington Nationals added him to their 40-man roster. [7] He again played winter ball with Leones del Escogido during the 2016-2017 offseason. [2]
Bautista began the 2017 season with the Class AAA Syracuse Chiefs in the International League. [2] The Washington Nationals promoted him to the major leagues 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 Gulf Coast League Nationals during 2017. [3] He hit a combined .259 for the two teams,with 14 RBIs and nine stolen bases. [3]
Bautista participated in 2018 major-league spring training before the Nationals optioned him to the Class AAA Syracuse Chiefs on March 14. [3] He was reassigned to the Class AA 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 RBIs,and six stolen bases in the minors 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 deal. [20] He spent the remainder of the season in Triple-A Syracuse.
In 2019,Bautista played for Double-A Harrisburg,Single-A Hagerstown,and Low-A Auburn,slashing .182/.256/.255 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI across 29 games between the three teams. 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. On November 12,2020,Bautista re-signed with the Nationals on a minor league contract. [22] Bautista was assigned to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings to begin the 2021 season.
