Well, shit, I guess we should talk about Jose Bautista

[Frayed Knot]

Don't know how long this will continue, but he's been contributing so far.
Adding in tonight he's 7/23 w/2 2Bs plus 5 BB vs 6 K - and is playing a decent LF and providing a righty bat.

[Edgy MD]

Considering that he was 5 for 40 with the Braves, I feel like the Mets picked their pocket.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Let's hope it continues but hard not to imagine this is a "dead cat bounce."

[Edgy MD]

He's only gotta bounce until Céspedes is ready. Then he either hangs on as the fifth outfielder, or he don't, depending on how he's doing.

What surprised me is that he's still got an athletic body.

[Lefty Specialist]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Let's hope it continues but hard not to imagine this is a "dead cat bounce."

Yeah....this. He hit .202 last year and he's not getting any younger. Good while it lasts, but he's utterly expendable. He should never take away an at-bat from Nimmo, though.

[metirish]

Nice, but christ , Gary frothing at the mouth when he talks about Bautista

[Edgy MD]

Keith too.

But I understand a little. You get a veteran player like that in and you're expecting something like Adrian Gonzalez. Big arms and veteran guile, but a slow bat and no wheels. That he still has a flat stomach, bat speed, and athleticism is an interesting surprise.

Of course, Reyes still has some great whip in his bat, but his approach is all bolluxed up, so that only gets you so far.

Remember how excited Keith was when the Mets got Juan Uribe, to see the violence that fat guy could still unleash in his swing?

Proof is in the pudding, but they probably needed a fourth outfielder one way or another.

[metirish]

Yeah, Keith is all over him, funny to hear them both go on about Bautista...made a pretty routine play on a hard hit ball the other night and Gary acted like it was an amazing catch....

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

When he's hit it, he's hit it hard.

But on virtually every pitch other than when he makes wall-denting contact, he looks like hot garbage. He almost seems to be guessing on every pitch.

Let's hope that cat corpse is plenty elastic, eh?

[Centerfield]

To the naked eye, it looks like his bat is pretty quick to me. Has no problem getting around on the high stuff.

He just, like, misses a lot.

On the other hand, I always felt like John Olerud's bat speed looked slow, when obviously it wasn't.

[Edgy MD]

So, you think there's a market for this guy?

.593 OPS in 40 plate appearances for the Braves.

.820 OPS in 181 plate appearances for the Mets.

Modestly versatile. Lotsa post-season experience. Maybe, right? I mean, they moved Neil Walker after the deadline last year.

[Centerfield]

I would think yes. But your high side is probably a low Single-A pitcher who throws hard but can't find the plate and has no secondary pitches.

Buy a lottery ticket. Hope he develops a changeup.

[bmfc1]

Per Puma and Martino, they might keep Bautista:
[tweet:3s5xfyqc]

[/tweet:3s5xfyqc]
He cost them nothing and if a team wants to give up a decent prospect for him, I say go ahead.

[Edgy MD]

(Cespedes' situation probably dictates he stays).

Look at Pu-Pu playing the troll.

[seawolf17]

There is virtually no reason to keep Bautista on the roster at this point. I'd rather have the low-A flier for him.