Julio Borbón
Borbón with the Texas Rangers
Center fielder
Born: (1986-02-20) February 20, 1986
Starkville, Mississippi, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 29, 2009, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
August 27, 2016, for the Baltimore Orioles
MLB statistics
Batting average.273
Home runs8
Runs batted in76
Teams
Medals
Men’s baseball
Representing  United States
World University Championship
Gold medal – first place 2006 Havana Team

Julio Alberto Borbón (born February 20, 1986) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and current Assistant Coordinator of Player Development for the Minnesota Twins. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Baltimore Orioles. He also played for the Sultanes de Monterrey, Pericos de Puebla, and the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican Baseball League.

College career

Borbón attended the University of Tennessee. In 2005, Borbón helped the Volunteers reach the College World Series and was third on the team with a .350 batting average. His teammates that year included current major leaguers Chase Headley of the San Diego Padres and Luke Hochevar of the Kansas City Royals. After the 2005 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[1][2] Borbon led the Volunteers with a .366 batting average and 19 stolen bases in 2006 and in 2007, his final season, had a .345 batting average.

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Entering the 2007 Major League Baseball draft, Borbón was ranked the 19th-best overall prospect by Baseball America.[3] In the draft, he was taken in the supplemental round by the Texas Rangers as the 35th overall pick.

Borbon playing for the Frisco RoughRiders in 2008.

On August 16, 2007, Borbón signed a four-year major league contract worth $1.3 million, with a $800,000 signing bonus. Because he was signed to a major league contract, Borbón was placed on the Rangers 40-man roster and was optioned to Single-A Spokane. At Spokane, he played in 7 games and had a .172 batting average. He was then sent to play rookie ball for the Surprise Rangers and played two games for them.

On June 29, 2009, Borbón made his major league debut with the Rangers. He hit his first major league home run on August 20 of that year. On September 8, he had his first multi-homer game in an 11–9 win over the Cleveland Indians.[4]

Chicago Cubs

On April 19, 2013 the Chicago Cubs claimed Borbón off waivers. He was designated for assignment on August 2, 2013.

Baltimore Orioles

Borbón was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 Draft on December 12, 2013.[5] He was assigned to AAA Norfolk Tides.[6] He elected free agency on November 6, 2015.[7]

On March 12, 2016, Borbón signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles. His contract was selected from the Bowie Baysox when the Orioles placed Hyun-soo Kim on the 15-day disabled list on July 19, 2016.[8] Borbón made his first appearance in an MLB game in three years as an eighth-inning defensive substitute for center fielder Adam Jones in a 5–0 loss to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on August 20. He made his first start with the Orioles in center field the next day, getting a single in three at bats and scoring a run in a 4–1 victory over the Yankees.[9]

Acereros de Monclova

On April 11, 2017, Borbón signed with the Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican Baseball League.

Pericos de Puebla

He was traded to the Pericos de Puebla on July 1, 2017. He became a free agent following the season.

Somerset Patriots

Borbón with the Somerset Patriots in 2018

On April 2, 2018, Borbón signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.[10]

Sultanes de Monterrey

On July 17, 2018, Borbón signed with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican Baseball League.

Retirement

Borbón announced his retirement on March 1, 2019.[11]

Post-playing career

On March 1, 2019, Borbón announced that he joined the New York Yankees organization as a coach.[11] In his first year, he served as a defensive coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, with a focus on baserunning, outfield, and bunting instruction.[12] In 2020, he moved into a new position as a defensive coach for the GCL Yankees East, but the season was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In 2021, he stayed with the team, now re-named the FCL Yankees, and was promoted to manager.

On January 30, 2022, Borbón announced he was leaving the Yankees and accepted a position with the Minnesota Twins in their Player Development department.[14][15]

Personal

Borbón was born in Mississippi while his father attended Mississippi State University. He is of Dominican descent.[16] He attended high school at De La Salle in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, graduating in 2004. After high school he attended the University of Tennessee on a baseball scholarship. He left Tennessee after his junior year and was taken by the Texas Rangers with the 35th pick in the 2007 MLB draft. His brother, Edwin Borbón, played college baseball at Trevecca Nazarene University prior to his first two years at Tennessee junior college, Chattanooga State.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ "2005 Cotuit Kettleers". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ Davison, Drew (August 16, 2007). "Notes: Rangers sign pick Borbon". MLB.com. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
  4. ↑ "Texas 11, Cleveland 9". Redorbit.com. September 8, 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2010.
  5. ↑ Melewski, Steve. "Dan Duquette talks about Michael Almanzar and Julio Borbon".
  6. ↑ "2013 MLB Rule 5 Draft results". MLB.com.
  7. ↑ "International League Transactions". milb.com. p. November 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Orioles select Julio Borbón from AA; place Hyun Soo Kim on the 15-day DL". MLB.com.
  9. ↑ "Borbon back in big leagues with Orioles". 21 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Somerset Patriots Land MLB Outfielder Julio Borbon". Somerset Patriots. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  11. 1 2 "Julio Borbon". instagram.com. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  12. ↑ "2019 SCRANTON/WILKES-BARRE RAILRIDERS ROSTER" (PDF). Retrieved January 30, 2022.
  13. ↑ "2020 Minor League Baseball Season Shelved". Minor League Baseball. June 30, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  14. ↑ Borbón, Julio [@JulioBorbon20] (January 30, 2022). "Thank you Yankees! Excited to join the @Twins organization and start this new chapter! Let's go Twins! #MNTwins" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 January 2022 – via Twitter.
  15. ↑ Park, Do-Hyoung (March 8, 2022). "'I love coming here': Borbón brings joy, experience to Twins". MLB.com. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  16. ↑ "Julio Borbón una vida de dedicación y éxitos".
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