Mauricio Dubón

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Mauricio Andre Dubon

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Mauricio Dubón was a 26th round selection by the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 amateur draft. The scout was Demond Smith. He played that first season with the GCL Red Sox, then in 2014 stepped forward as the regular shortstop for the Lowell Spinners of the New York-Penn League, hitting .320 in 66 games. He split 2015 between the Greenville Drive and the Salem Red Sox, playing a total of 120 games during which his batting line was .288/.349/.376 with 70 runs scored. In 2016, he continued to demonstrate strong hitting abilities, combining for a .323/.379/.461 slash line in 124 games split equally between Salem and the Portland Sea Dogs of the AA Eastern League. He hit 13 doubles and 9 triples, scored 101 runs and drove in 59.

On December 6, 2016, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers alongside 3B/1B Travis Shaw and fellow prospect Josh Pennington in return for P Tyler Thornburg. He split the season between the AA Biloxi Shuckers and AAA Colorado Springs SkySox, hitting .274/.330/.382 with 8 homers and 57 RBIs in 129 games. He was named to the 2017 Futures Game as part of the World team.

Dubon was born in Honduras and learned to play baseball there. It was not a popular sport in the Central American country, but it got him noticed by Christian missionaries who had come over to donate equipment for his native city's fledgling baseball and softball program, and they offered to pay a scholarship so he could attend high school in Sacramento, CA. He left his home and family to seize this opportunity of a lifetime, living with a host family from the age of 15 on, and made the most of it. In addition to perfecting his baseball skills, he learned to speak flawless English and created a bright future for himself. When he played in the 2017 Futures Game, his mother made the trip from Honduras to watch him; it was the first time she had seen him play baseball in a professional setting.

He made his major league debut during the 2019 season, appearing in two games for the Brewers, before being traded to the San Francisco Giants on July 31st in return for Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black. He appeared in 28 more games, and altogether he hit .274 with 4 homers and 9 RBIs. He was a regular during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, playing in 54 of the Giants' 60 games as their main centerfielder. He hit .274 with 4 homers and 19 RBIs, for an OPS+ of exactly 100. In 2021, when the Giants surprised just about every one to post the best record in the majors, he batted .240 in 74 games with 5 homers and 22 RBIs. However, his OPS+ fell to 75, the result of a poor walk rate that saw his OBP tumble to .278. He was a utility player, seeing time at four positions: center field, second base, shortstop and third base. He did not appear in the postseason.

In 2022, he got off to a slow start, batting .239 in his first 21 games with San Francisco, with an OPS+ of 80. On May 14th, he was traded to the Houston Astros for minor league catcher Michael Papierski. At the time, the Astros were dealing with an injury to starting 2B José Altuve and not getting much production from their two main back-up infielders, Aledmys Diaz and Niko Goodrum.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Ted Berg: "Brewers prospect wants to spread baseball in his native Honduras", "For the Win!", USA Today Sports, July 9, 2017. [1]
  • Dakota Gardner: "Mauricio Dubon's mother had never seen him play professionally until the Futures Game", "Cut$", Mlb.com, July 12, 2017. [2]
  • Brian McTaggart: "Astros acquire versatile Dubón to bolster depth", mlb.com, May 14, 2022. [3]

Related Sites[edit]