NORTH PORT, Fla. — What did Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubón take into consideration getting an opportunity to speak about hitting along with his childhood idol Chipper Jones on Thursday morning?
“There’s no coincidence that he got here right here, talked to me a little bit bit and I obtained three hits after it,” Dubón stated.
Dubón really stated this just a few hours earlier than he doubled to start the underside of the primary inning of Saturday’s sport in opposition to the Orioles. So, he really tallied 4 straight hits, together with two doubles, after speaking store with the person, who led him and lots of different children of the previous few a long time to put on No. 10.
Like numerous others, Dubón would possibly by no means hit like Jones. However he plans to at the very least partly resemble the Corridor of Fame third baseman’s look within the batter’s field.
Dubón has requested Rawlings to design bats which have the blue stripe that sat close to the highest of the deal with and slightly below the trademark, just like the bats Jones used all through most of his nice profession.
“Even my spouse knew about Chipper and he or she didn’t know baseball,” Dubón stated. “My spouse’s grandparents are large Braves followers and that’s all they might discuss. My spouse was like, ‘I don’t understand how he appears to be like, however I do know who he’s.’ Now she is aware of the sport. However it’s a fairly large deal again house.”
Dubón proudly owns the excellence of being the one particular person born and raised in Honduras to play Main League Baseball. His baseball curiosity was fueled by TBS beaming Braves video games to his household house each day. He nonetheless rapidly rattles off the 2003 Atlanta lineup that entertained him when he was 9.
Evidently, Dubón was completely satisfied in November, when he realized the Astros had traded him to Atlanta. He was briefly launched to Jones throughout a sequence at Truist Park a pair years in the past. However Thursday marked the primary time the switch-hitting shortstop obtained to speak to probably the greatest change hitters in baseball historical past concerning the artwork of hitting.
“Listening to him speak and choosing his mind, he’s simply in a position to simplify stuff and make it make sense,” Dubón stated. “It’s simply totally different when a man like that talks.”
Dubón was acknowledged because the American League’s greatest defensive utility man when he obtained a Gold Glove after each the 2023 and ’25 seasons. He’s been a slightly-below common offensive producer over the previous few years. However now that he’s obtained Chipper on his facet, he would possibly add a little bit extra worth with the bat.
“I’ve all the time had a chip on my shoulder,” Dubón stated. “Yearly, I’ve wished to show to folks what I can do. Individuals are all the time going to second guess. At first, they’re doubters, after which it’s, ‘You understand, the man can play.’ I’m excited to point out all people that I can play.”
Dubón tied for the seventh-highest Fielding Run Worth (6) amongst all MLB shortstops in 2025. Why is seventh-best spectacular? Effectively, this can be a cumulative stat, and he performed simply 206 1/3 innings as a shortstop. That’s 855 1/3 fewer innings than Jeremy Peña, the Astros’ beginning shortstop, whose FRV was additionally 6.
Too small of a pattern measurement? Effectively, Dubón is tied for the Fifteenth-highest FRV (11) amongst all shortstops going again to 2021, regardless of 55 gamers logging extra innings on the place than him throughout this span.
And the hitting suggestions from Chipper might assist him and his “youthful brother” Jake Garcia, a 14-year-old aspiring participant who attends Sacramento’s Bradshaw Christian Faculty. This sibling relationship started after Garcia’s dad and mom gave Dubón an opportunity to go away Honduras when he was 15 and play highschool baseball in California.
“After we talked to Chipper the opposite day, the very first thing I did once I talked to my little brother was inform him all about it,” Dubón stated. “He’s a freshman in highschool now and I need him to study what I’m studying.”
