Jorge Bonifacio

Jorge Luis Bonifácio

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 225 lb.

• Debut April 21, 2017

• Born June 4, 1993 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Jorge Bonifacio began his professional career in the Kansas City Royals system in 2010 after being signed by scout Edis Perez. Throughout his early career, he was regarded as a top prospect. He consistently played at age levels above his own.

The brother of Emilio Bonifacio, Jorge, at 17 years old, batted .296/.381/.433 with 14 stolen bases and 32 walks in 69 games between the DSL Royals and AZL Royals in 2010. The next year, he hit .284/.333/.492 with 20 doubles in 62 games for the Burlington Royals. In 2012, he batted .282/.336/.432 with 10 home runs in 105 games for the Kane County Cougars; over the winter, he briefly played for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Republic. Entering 2013, Baseball America ranked him the #4 prospect in the Royals chain. In 88 games between the AZL Royals, Wilmington Blue Rocks and Northwest Arkansas Naturals that year, he hit .298/.372/.429. He earned a spot in the 2013 Futures Game. In 18 games with the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League, he hit .213/.300/.295 and was named a Rising Star. Going into 2014, BA ranked him the #90 prospect in the game, while MLB.com ranked him #91 and Baseball Prospectus ranked him #99. BA also ranked him the #4 prospect in the Royals chain. With the Naturals, he struggled to a .230/.302/.309 line in 132 games; nevertheless, BA still ranked him #9 in the Kansas City system going into 2015. He rebounded a tad, hitting .240/.305/.416 with 17 home runs and 30 doubles in 125 games. He appeared briefly with Licey in 2014 and 2015. His stock slipping a bit, Bonifácio was ranked the #16 prospect in the Royals chain by BA going into 2016. He began the year with the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers. On the farm, Jorge was a Mid-Season All-Star in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. He was the All-Star Game Top Star in 2015. Other accolades include being named the 2010 DSL Royals Player of the Year, the 2011 Burlington Royals Player of the Year, the 2012 Kane County Player of the Year and being rated by BA the #13 prospect in the Midwest League in 2012.

Bonifácio made his major league debut a couple of weeks into the 2017 season and ended up the team's most used right fielder, playing 113 games while hitting .255 with 17 homers and 40 RBI. He was hoping to build on that in 2018 but on March 10th, he was handed an 80-game suspension for a banned substance. The substance in question was Boldenone, a steroid used in veterinary medicine. He struggled in both '18 and '19, and was released in November, signing a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers for 2020.

Related Sites

• Jorge Bonifacio on mlb.com
• BR Minors page