José Lobatón

José Lobatón
Lobatón with the Washington Nationals
New York Mets – No. 59
Catcher
Born: (1984-10-21) October 21, 1984
Acarigua, Venezuela
Bats: Switch Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 5, 2009, for the San Diego Padres
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average .215
Home runs 21
Runs batted in 107
Teams

José Manuel Lobatón (born October 21, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and Washington Nationals.

Early life

Lobatón was the youngest of four children raised in northeastern Venezuela by their father, a taxi driver, and their stay-at-home mom. In 2002, at 17 years old, he signed with the San Diego Padres for $70,000.[1]

Minor league career

Lobatón made his Minor League debut in 2003, and spent 2004 and 2005 with the Idaho Falls Padres, Eugene Emeralds, and the Fort Wayne Wizards. He spent the 2007 season with the Lake Elsinore Storm and played the 2008 season with the San Antonio Missions.

He played his entire 2010 season in the Rays minor league system.

Major league career

Lobatón with the San Diego Padres in 2009

San Diego Padres

Lobatón made his Major League debut on July 5, 2009, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He only played in 7 games with the Padres going .176 in 17 at-bats with 3 hits and 0 RBI's. He was designated for assignment on July 28.

Tampa Bay Rays

Two days after being designated for assignment, Lobatón was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays and reported to Double A Montgomery.

His 2011 season ended with him going .118 with only 4 hits in 34 at-bats.

Lobaton hit his first Major League home run against the Baltimore Orioles on July 25, 2012.[2] During a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays from August 16–18, 2013, Lobaton hit a walk-off triple[3] and walk-off home run,[4] becoming the first catcher to do so since Wally Schang in 1917 and only the fourth player overall since 2002.[5]

Lobatón batting for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011

Lobatón hit a 9th inning walk-off home run off of Red Sox closer Koji Uehara to defeat the Boston Red Sox in game three of the 2013 American League Division Series. Lobaton is the only Rays player to hit a walk-off home run in the postseason, and the first Ray to hit a home run into the Rays Touch Tank (the others being Luis Gonzalez and Miguel Cabrera). It was the only walk-off home run of the 2013 postseason.[6]

Washington Nationals

On February 13, 2014, he was traded to the Washington Nationals (along with Felipe Rivero and Drew Vettleson) in exchange for Nathan Karns.[7] Lobatón and the Nationals avoided salary arbitration on December 1, 2016, agreeing to a $1.575 million salary for the 2017 season.[8] In March 2017, he declined an offer to replace Salvador Pérez on the roster of the Venezuela national baseball team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic so that he could stay in spring training with Nationals and compete for a spot on the club's roster.[9]

New York Mets

On December 15, 2017, Lobatón signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.[10] He was designated for assignment on May 19, 2018 and outrighted to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. He had his contract purchased again on June 1, 2018. Loboton was Designated for assignment on June 11, 2018. [11] He cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.[12]

Personal life

Lobaton married his wife, Nina, at Tropicana Field on July 3, 2012.[13] The couple had a son in 2013.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Wagner, James (10 March 2014). "Washington Nationals' Jose Lobaton finds mastery of English as key to reaching MLB". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Ghiroli, Brittany (July 25, 2012). "Gonzalez struggles in O's loss to Rays". Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ Strong, Sam (August 17, 2013). "Rays walk off on Lobaton's ninth-inning triple". Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  4. ↑ Strong, Sam (August 18, 2013). "Lobaton caps series with second walk-off". Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ Chastain, Bill (August 19, 2013). "Lobaton's walk-offs have historic twist". Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ Goodall, Fred (October 8, 2013). "Lobaton's HR in 9th lifts Rays over Red Sox 5-4". Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Nationals trade Karns for Lobaton". Associated Press. ESPN.com. February 13, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  8. ↑ Adams, Steve (December 1, 2016). "Nationals, Jose Lobaton Avoid Arbitration". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Castillo, Jorge (12 March 2017). "Jose Lobaton turns down opportunity to play for Venezuela in World Baseball Classic". Washington Post. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Todd, Jeff (December 15, 2017). "Mets sign Jose Lobaton". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  11. ↑ Ehalt, Matt (June 11, 2018). "Mets cut slumping veteran Adrian Gonzalez, designate catcher Jose Lobaton". northjersey.com. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
  12. ↑ Adams, Steve (June 14, 2018). "Minor MLB Transactions: 6/14/18". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  13. ↑ Greg Zeck, Bill Chastain (July 3, 2012). "Lobaton gets married at Trop". Retrieved November 17, 2013.
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