Player Profile: Jose Bautista

Bautista went from a fringe Major Leaguer to a prolific power hitter overnight.  Bautista says it was a change in his swing after coming from Pittsburgh to Toronto that turned him into one of the most feared hitters in the game.  That tweak in his swing led Jose to the MLB home run crown for the second straight year (in 2010, his 54 HRs were 12 more than the next closest hitter, Pujols, the only other guy to hit 40+).

The advice was to “start slower and sooner.”  Here are the results:

Bautista even showed he could hit for average in 2011, batting .302, while leading the league in slugging.  Not surprisingly, Joey Bats swings a Marucci JB19 maple bat, which is available online.

Bautista seems to have switched over from New Balance to Reebok this spring, as he is wearing the same cleats as David Ortiz, the Reebok Pro Cooperstown in blue/white.  However, we know he signed a deal last year with New Balance and wore their 1103 cleats in 2011.  The colorway in the feature picture ISN’T the pair we saw him wearing at the end of the year, despite the fact that they are customized for him.  His were black and white with blue accents, which we could not find online.  We’ll keep you posted on whether he actually is making the switch to Reebok in the regular season or if it was just a trial run and he’s sticking with New Balance.

Jose Bautista is the first guy we’ve seen wearing Marucci batting gloves, which we first noticed in spring training this year.  He is wearing the exact style you see in the feature picture, and those are available online  Last year he kept it simple with Franklin Pro Classic batting gloves (below), which seem to have been discontinued for the Neo Classic Pro.

Since Bautista’s equipment varied so much from last year to this spring, we will be sure to update once we see him in the regular season.  In the meantime, here are the links:

Marucci JB19 Bat

Marucci Team Professional Batting Gloves (Bautista’s are white on white)

New Balance 1103 Cleats (last years cleats, though we can’t find his colorway)

Reebok Pro Cooperstown Cleats (this spring’s cleats–the blue colorway Bautista wears also nowhere to be found)

Look, we know he’s not known for his defense, but Jose Bautista has a pretty slick looking glove.  Click here for video evidence that Bautista does in fact play a decent outfield.  Last year, Bautista used a glove more similar to the Wilson A2000 1799-B, but switched over just this year to a custom colored A2000 OT6.  The OT6 has what Wilson calls a “6-finger web,” which is the exact same style as Rawling’s “Trap-eze.”  Click here for video of his first impressions of the glove.  As you’ll see in the video, Bautista wanted the “SuperSkin” version of the OT6, which plays lighter since it repels moisture, but the glovemaker decided it looked bad with the blue color.

The OT6 is available, but the colorways, as you would expect, are not the same as Bautista’s bright blue.  Here is the dark tan version of Bautista’s model that is available online (link below).  Update: 7.20.12—You can also build your own OT6 at Wilson’s custom builder.  The blue color they have is called royal blue, and it looks a little darker than Bautista’s.

Jose Bautista wears his sunglasses in the batter’s box as well as the field.  The Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ sunglasses he wore last season are in the featured photo above (all black).  This spring however, he’s been wearing the same Flak Jacket XLJ model in all-white, as well as a pair with blue “ear socks,” as Oakley calls them.  All types are available using the Oakley Custom Builder.

Bautista’s black pair is easy to build—just go all black, and add the “Positive Red Iridium” lenses.

The all-whites are also easy (above), with all white and “Ice Iridium XLJ” lenses.  For the blue ear socks, simply add those (its near the bottom of the customization options).

Here are the links:

Wilson A2000 OT6 (Jose Bautista’s is NOT “SuperSkin” but he did want that type based on what he says in the video)

Wilson Custom Glove Builder (When I originally posted this, you couldn’t customize the OT6 but now you can!)

Oakley Flak Jacket XLJ Custom Builder (be sure to change the lenses to “XLJ” for Bautista’s exact style)

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More of What Pros Wear:

1. Player Profile: Jose Reyes
2. Player Profile: Jose Hernandez
3. Player Profile: Giancarlo Stanton
4. Player Profile: Nelson Cruz