ATLANTA (AP) The Atlanta Braves have taken over the contract of Jose Bautista from Triple-A Gwinnett, making the former Toronto slugger their starting third baseman.
Bautista will bat fifth in Friday’s game against San Francisco. Atlanta will make a corresponding move to make room for him on the 25-man roster.
Bautista, a six-time All-Star outfielder, has moved to a position he’s played sparingly in a 14-year career. But the Braves, winners of five straight to move atop the NL East, planned to use Bautista at third when they signed him to a minor-league deal on April 18.
Atlanta is set in the outfield with Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis and phenom Ronald Acuna Jr.
Bringing aboard Bautista adds more power to a lineup that leads the majors with a .456 slugging percentage and sits atop the NL in RBIs. His prorated $1 million, one-year contract was guaranteed when he joined the roster.
In 10 games and 44 at-bats with Gwinnett, Bautista hit .250 with one homer and eight RBIs as he worked exclusively at third base, with two errors in 30 chances. He will replace Ryan Flaherty and Johan Camargo as Atlanta’s primary third baseman.
Bautista has played third in 394 career games, though he’s made just six starts there over the previous five seasons.
But the Braves signed Bautista, 37, primarily because of his right-handed power. His one-year contract is prorated; Bautista made $18 million under a one-year deal in 2016, hitting 23 homers with 65 RBIs in 157 games, but the Blue Jays decided not to bring him back for an 11th season after his batting average dropped to .203.
Bautista has hit at least 22 homers the last eight seasons. He had a career-best 54 with Toronto in 2010.
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