Rafael Bautista

Rafael Darwing Bautista Rodriguez (born March 8, 1993) is a Dominican former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals.

Professional career Washington Nationals Bautista signed with the Washington Nationals as an international free agent on January 9, 2012. He began his professional career in 2012 with the rookie–level Dominican Summer League Nationals in the Dominican Summer League, where he batted .329 with 25 runs batted in (RBI) and 47 stolen bases. In 2013 he played in the rookie–level Gulf Coast League for the Gulf Coast League Nationals, The team then won all three of its playoff games, defeating the Gulf Coast League Pirates in a single-game semifinal playoff and sweeping the Gulf Coast League Red Sox in the best–of–three league championship series, to become the 2013 Gulf Coast League champions. Bautista appeared in 52 games during the championship season, batting .322 with one home run, 27 RBIs, and 26 stolen bases. He again played winter ball with Leones del Escogido during the 2016–2017 offseason. He made his major league debut on April 30 in a 23–5 Nationals victory over the New York Mets at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., batting twice and going 0-for-2 against Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki, who was making his first–ever major league appearance as a pitcher. On May 6, in a 6–2 Nationals victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, he made his first career major–league start, playing right field, and got his first career major–league hit, a single through the infield off Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez. The Nationals optioned Bautista back to Syracuse on May 8.

The Nationals recalled Bautista on August 27, but optioned him back to Syracuse the next day. They called him back up again on September 7, and he finished the regular season with the Nationals. He completed the season having played in 17 major–league games, batting .160 with four hits – all singles – in 25 at–bats, scoring two runs, and with a slugging percentage of .160 and an on-base percentage of .222. In the minor leagues, Bautista played 43 games for Syracuse and 13 for the GCL Nationals during 2017. when, on April 24, the Nationals called him up to the major leagues. He appeared in nine games, usually as a late–game replacement or a pinch–runner, made one start, and went 0–for–6, striking out once and scoring a run Bautista made another 46 plate appearances for Syracuse, batting .300 with a .749 OPS, On June 13, Washington re–signed Bautista to a minor league contract.

In 2019, Bautista played for Double–A Harrisburg, Single–A Hagerstown, and Low–A Auburn, slashing .182/.256/.255 with two home runs and nine RBI across 29 games between the three affiliates. Bautista did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 2, 2020, he elected free agency.

On November 12, 2020, Bautista re–signed with the Nationals on a minor league contract. Bautista was assigned to the Triple–A Rochester Red Wings to begin the 2021 season. He elected free agency on November 7, 2021.