Jay Bruce

Jay Allen Bruce (born April 3, 1987) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees. The Reds drafted Bruce in the first round with the 12th overall pick of the 2005 MLB draft, and he made his MLB debut in . He was named an All-Star three times and won two Silver Slugger Awards.

Early life Bruce was born in Beaumont, Texas on April 3, 1987, the youngest of three children of Joe, a plumber, and Martha Bruce, a special education schoolteacher. His older sisters are Amy and Kellan, who is mentally disabled. His mom said: "[Football] was just so rough and kids got hurt. When it came time for him to move up to the next level, I wouldn't sign the consent form. I told him, 'all the work you put into baseball could be wiped out on one play.'"

Bruce attended West Brook High School in Beaumont, where he was a third-team All-American. In his senior year he batted .538 with 12 home runs, 31 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases. Bruce had accepted a scholarship to play college baseball at Tulane University but opted instead to turn professional out of high school. He was drafted 12th overall in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, immediately behind fellow center fielder Andrew McCutchen, and signed for $1.8 million, the fifth-largest signing bonus the Reds had ever given at that time.

Professional career

Minor leagues Bruce's professional career began in 2005 in the Gulf Coast League, playing for the Reds' short-season rookie team. He hit .270/.331/.500 in 122 at bats in 37 games before moving on to the Reds' rookie affiliate Billings Mustangs. There he hit .257/.358/.457 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in (RBIs) in 70 at bats. Baseball America ranked him the top prospect in the Pioneer League, and the second-best prospect in the Gulf Coast League. Baseball America named him the top prospect in the Midwest League. On March 20, he was reassigned to the team's minor league camp and started the season at Louisville, where he batted .364 with 10 home runs and 13 stolen bases in 49 games before he was promoted. He made his major league debut that day against right-handed pitcher Ian Snell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bruce started in center field, batting 3-for-3 with two singles and one double. He drove in two runs, scored twice, walked twice, and stole a base. In his second game, on May 28, also against Pittsburgh, he added a double, another stolen base, and two more walks. Bruce became the first Major League player since 1977 to reach base in his first six plate appearances.

On May 30, Bruce went 4-for-5 in a 3–2, 11-inning win over the Atlanta Braves. Bruce doubled in the tying run and scored the winning run in the 11th inning, after leading off the inning with a single. On May 31, Bruce launched his first Major League home run in the bottom of the 10th inning, to give the Reds a walk-off win. One day later, on June 1, he went 2-for-3 with a home run, a single, two RBIs, and a base on balls. Bruce had a 1.000 slugging percentage after his first six games; the only major league player since 1969 to achieve a higher slugging percentage for his first six games was Mike Jacobs in 2005.

On June 2, Bruce hit the third home run of his career while going 2-for-4 in Philadelphia against the Phillies' Kyle Kendrick. In his first full week in the majors, he batted .577 (15-for-26) with three home runs, three doubles, and nine singles in addition to six bases on balls. He also scored 12 runs and batted in seven more runs. The Reds had a winning percentage of .714 (5–2) during his first week. Before Bruce was called up to the majors, they had a winning percentage of .451 (23–28), and had lost five of seven games. Bruce had a 12-game hitting streak during July.

For the season, he batted .254/.314/.453 with 21 home runs and 52 RBIs in 413 at bats. He was the 6th-youngest player in the NL. He was named to the Baseball America Major League All-Rookie Team and the TOPPS Major League Rookie All-Star Team. On July 11, Bruce fractured his right wrist while making a diving play in right field in a game against the New York Mets. On September 14, Bruce made his return against the Houston Astros, pinch hitting with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. Bruce's two-run single gave the Reds a 2–1 lead that would hold up as the game-winning hit. He was tied for 5th among NL outfielders, with 11 assists. On September 28, Bruce hit a bottom-of-the-ninth inning, first-pitch, walk-off home run off Astros pitcher Tim Byrdak to clinch the NL Central title for the Reds. On December 9, 2010, the Reds agreed to extend Bruce to a six-year $51 million deal, that included a $12 million option for a seventh year.

2011 season

After finishing March/April hitting .237 with four home runs, 11 RBIs, and striking out 27 times, Bruce came back strong in May, batting .392 with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs and earning NL Player of the Month for May. For the season, he batted .256/.341/.474 and was 8th in the NL in home runs, with 32, and in RBIs, with 97, in 585 at bats.

He was named to his second Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 1. On September 9 Bruce won the NL Player of the Week Award for the fifth time in his career.

He finished the season batting .262/.329/.478 and was 2nd in the NL with 109 RBIs, his highest year-end total to date, and 74 extra base hits, 3rd in doubles (43; a career high) and home runs (30), and 10th in runs scored (89) and at bats per home run (20.9).

2014 season On May 5, 2014, Bruce underwent left knee arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus. Bruce hit his 200th career home run on August 10, 2015, becoming the ninth Reds player and 319th Major Leaguer to do so. With Cincinnati, before he was traded, he batted .265/.316/.559 with 25 home runs and league-leading 80 RBIs in 370 at bats.

New York Mets

On August 1, 2016, the Reds traded Bruce to the New York Mets for Dilson Herrera and Max Wotell. For the remainder of that season, he batted a disappointing .219/.294/.391 and hit 8 home runs with 19 RBIs in 169 at bats.

Cleveland Indians

After the Mets failed to trade Bruce before the trade deadline, on August 9, 2017, the Cleveland Indians picked him up off waivers and he was exchanged for minor league pitcher Ryder Ryan. On September 14 he hit the walk-off double to extend the Indians' win streak to 22 games. In 2017 with the Indians he batted .248/.331/.477 with 7 home runs and 26 RBIs in 149 at bats. For the first half of the season, he struggled offensively, hitting .212 with three home runs and 17 RBIs before being placed on the disabled list on June 19 with a right hip injury that had bothered him since mid-March.

In 2018, Bruce hit .223/.310/.370 with 9 home runs and 37 RBIs in 319 at bats.

Seattle Mariners

On December 3, 2018, the Mets traded Bruce, Jarred Kelenic, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, and Justin Dunn to the Seattle Mariners for Edwin Díaz, Robinson Canó, and $20 million.

On May 31, 2019, Bruce hit his 300th career home run off of Tyler Skaggs as the Mariners won 4–3 over the Angels. During the 2019 season with Seattle, before he was traded, he batted .212/.283/.533 with 14 home runs and 28 RBIs in 165 at bats. Bruce said: "I get to go somewhere I have a chance to win, and at this point in my career that's pretty paramount for me."

Bruce hit two home runs (including a grand slam) and a double in his first start for the Phillies. He became the fourth player to hit two home runs in his first start for the Phillies (joining Lefty O’Doul (1929), Jeremy Giambi (2002), and Daniel Nava (2017)), the first to hit two home runs including a grand slam, the first Phillies player with 10 or more total bases in his first start for the team, and the fifth player since 1920 with at least two home runs and six RBIs in his first start for an MLB team (joining Roman Mejias (1962), Brant Alyea (1970), Sam Horn (1990), and Calvin Pickering (2004)). Bruce became the first Phillies player since the onset of the modern era (1920) to hit four home runs in his first four games with his new team. On June 10, he won his sixth career Player of the Week Award.

In 2019, he batted .221/.235/.510 for the Phillies, with 12 home runs and 31 RBIs in 145 at bats as he spent more than one spell on the injured list. His 312 career home runs at the end of the season were 8th-most among active ballplayers, and his 1,535 strikeouts were 9th-most. When regular first baseman Luke Voit was diagnosed with a partial meniscus tear that would keep him out of the lineup for the first few weeks of the season, the Yankees selected Bruce's contract on March 27.

Bruce's first game in a Yankees uniform was on April 3, his 34th birthday; he recorded one hit and two RBIs off of Tim Mayza of the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth inning of the Yankees' 5–3 victory, their first win of the season. Bruce struggled in the following two weeks, however, batting only .118 in 10 games and striking out 13 times in 39 plate appearances. As Bruce's struggles became more apparent, the Yankees shifted DJ LeMahieu from second base to first, with new addition Rougned Odor filling in at second.

Retirement Bruce announced his retirement from baseball on April 18, 2021, telling reporters, "Ultimately, I just felt like I couldn't perform at the level that I expected out of myself." During his retirement conference, he added that he knew, following the 2020 season, that "the days [were] numbered" with regards to his tenure in MLB. Across 14 major league seasons, Bruce had a career .244 average.314 OBP, and .467 slugging percentage. He also recorded 319 home runs and 951 RBIs in 1,650 career games. The couple have two children. 2012 – Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award 2012 – NL All-Star 2011 – NL All-Star 2007 – Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award 2007 – Baseball America Minor League All-Star 2007 – Florida State League Mid-Season All-Star 2006 – Baseball America Minor League All-Star 2006 – Midwest League (MID) Post-Season All-Star 2006 – MID Mid-Season All-Star 2006 – MID All-Star Game Top Star