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The Braves have released veteran slugger Jose Bautista, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
The Braves have released Jose Bautista. Anthopoulos says Camargo will be the everyday third baseman.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 20, 2018
Bautista came to Atlanta on a minor-league deal in mid-April after going unsigned in the offseason. Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos brought the 37-year-old aboard after the two had worked together in Toronto when Anthopoulos was the GM there for the Blue Jays.
The thought was that Bautista could play third base for Atlanta. The Braves did call up Bautista on May 4, but the experiment didn’t go well because he only slashed .143/.250/.343 with two home runs and five RBI in 40 plate appearances across 12 games. This is a far cry from his production with Toronto, where he blasted over 20 homers in his final eight seasons with the club and had over 40 homers three times (2010, 2011, 2015). He also had a .253/.372/.506 slash line in 10 seasons with the Jays and was a six-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger winner and a two-time top-five AL MVP vote getter.
With Bautista gone, the Braves will go back to Johan Camargo as their starter at the hot corner. The 24-year-old, who also plays second base and shortstop, has slashed .226/.368/.403 in 76 plate appearances in 24 games.