Alexis Ríos
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|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays — No. 15 | |
| Right Fielder | |
| Born: February 18 1981 | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 27, 2004 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through October 3, 2007) |
|
| Batting average | .288 |
| Home runs | 52 |
| Runs batted in | 254 |
| Stolen bases | 61 |
| Teams | |
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Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981 in Coffee, Alabama) commonly known as Alex Rios is a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder that plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. He bats and throws right handed. He was drafted in the first round (19th overall) in the 1999 MLB draft.
He had his first multi-home run game on June 12, 2006, facing the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre.
A top prospect in the Blue Jays organization for several years, Ríos had considerable success in the organization's minor league system. In 2003 he hit .352 with 11 home runs and 82 RBI en route to winning the Double-A Eastern League Most Valuable Player award.
Ríos was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse for the start of the 2004 season and made the jump to the big leagues shortly thereafter. He finished his rookie season with Toronto hitting .286 with one home run, 55 runs and 28 RBI in 111 games.
Professional career
2006 season
After his participation with the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic, Ríos (a player often touted as having "unlimited" potential) began to show why the Blue Jays were so high on him in the 2006 season, and indeed, 2006 was his break-out year. As of June 6, 2006, Ríos was 1st in the league in batting average (among qualified batters) with a .359 average, along with 11 home runs - a new personal best only 60 games into the 2006 season, and 43 RBIs. He is a good example of what is known in baseball jargon as a "five-tool player."
Rios' walking-to-the-plate theme music is "Los Bandoleros" by Don Omar and Tego Calderón. In recognition of his outstanding third season in the majors, the young outfielder was rewarded with a spot as a reserve on the American League All-Star Team. While Ríos did not play in the game due to a staph infection in his leg (Gary Matthews Jr. of Texas played instead), he was invited to attend the All-Star Game festivities during the July 10 weekend at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Alex said in a video interview that he fouled a ball off his foot[1] which resulted in a staph infection, it also hospitalized him, seriously depleted his strength, and affected his stats after the 2006 All Star Game. Rios recovered from the illness later in the season.
2007 season
On February 2, 2007 the Blue Jays and Ríos agreed to a 1 year, $2.535 million contract -- meaning that, for at least the next year, the two parties will avoid the process of salary arbitration. Rios' performance earned him a spot as a reserve on the 2007 American League All-Star team[1] and he also agreed to participate in the 2007 State Farm Home Run Derby. He led all competitors by hitting 19 home runs throughout the contest, but the final round was won by Vladimir Guerrero.
Ríos fielded the last out in the All-Star game. He led the team in all offensive categories during the first half of the season but slumped after the all-star break, with his hitting average settling to slightly below .300, and was overtaken by Frank Thomas as HR and RBI leader .
References
- ^ All Star Game Rosters: By League. Major League Baseball. Retrieved on 2007-07-09.
External links
- ESPN - profile and daily updates
- Baseball Reference - major league statistics
- Sports Wired - minor league statistics
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
