Raimel Tapia

Raimel Antonio Tapia Linarez (born February 4, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Tapia made his MLB debut in 2016 with the Colorado Rockies.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tapia and the second or maternal family name is Linarez.
Raimel Tapia
Tapia with the Colorado Rockies in 2021
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 15
Outfielder
Born: (1994-02-04) February 4, 1994
San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 2, 2016, for the Colorado Rockies
MLB statistics
(through April 29, 2022)
Batting average.279
Home runs20
Runs batted in140
Teams

Career

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies signed Tapia as an international free agent in 2010. He spent the 2013 season with the Grand Junction Rockies of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and was named the league's player of the month for July.[1] He had a 29-game hitting streak for Grand Junction.[2][3] After the season, he was named the Topps Pioneer League Player of the Year for 2013[4] and was named by Baseball Prospectus as the No. 97 prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2014 season. The Rockies added him to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season.[5]

Tapia during an at-bat in 2017

Tapia began the 2016 season with the Hartford Yard Goats of the Class AA Eastern League, and was selected to appear in the 2016 All-Star Futures Game.[6] The Rockies promoted him to the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in August.[7]

The Rockies promoted Tapia to the major leagues on September 2, 2016.[8]

On July 20, 2018, Tapia hit a two out, two strike, go-ahead pinch hit grand slam in the top of the 7th inning against Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Archie Bradley to give the Rockies an 11–8 lead. It was the first grand slam of Tapia's career and would ultimately prove to be the difference as the Rockies would go on to win the game 11–10.

In 2018, in 25 at bats he hit .200/.259/.480.[9] He had the fastest baserunning sprint speed of all major league designated hitters, at 28.6 feet/second.[10]

Tapia received more playing time in 2020 after Ian Desmond opted out of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] In 51 games, Tapia hit .321, drove in 17 runs, and stole eight bases.

In 2021 he batted .273/.327/.372. He had the highest ground ball/fly ball ratio in the major leagues, at 4.10, the highest ground ball percentage, at 67.4%, and the lowest fly ball percentage, at 16.4%.[12]

Toronto Blue Jays

On March 24, 2022, Tapia and Adrian Pinto were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Randal Grichuk.[13]

Scouting report

Tapia has been noted for altering his batting stance during at-bats. He generally stands at the plate with an upright stance except when there are two strikes against him, at which point he crouches deeply, dropping his eye level approximately five and three quarter inches.[14]

References
  1. "GJ Rockies' hit machine Tapia selected as Pioneer League's player of month for July". GJSentinel.com. August 13, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  2. "Grand Junction's Tapia extends hitting streak to 29 games". Billingsgazette.com. August 1, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  3. "Losing streak ends, but so does Tapia's hitting streak | Pioneer League News". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  4. "Colabello among Trautman winners | Pioneer League News". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  5. "Rockies' John Axford designated for assignment". Colorado Rockies. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  6. "Rockies prospects Jeff Hoffman, Raimel Tapia named to All-Star Futures Game". June 28, 2016.
  7. Sickenger, Ken (August 9, 2016). "apia shows Isotopes why he is a prospect". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  8. Kilpatrick, Bryan (September 2, 2016). "Raimel Tapia promoted to majors". Purple Row.
  9. "Raimel Tapia Stats". Baseball-Reference.com.
  10. "Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard". baseballsavant.com.
  11. Newman, Kyle (July 6, 2020). "Opportunity knocks for outfielders Raimel Tapia, Sam Hilliard with Ian Desmond opting out and DH arriving". The Denver Post. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  12. "Major League Leaderboards » 2021 » Batters » Batted Ball Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball". www.fangraphs.com.
  13. Matheson, Keegan (March 24, 2022). "Tapia traded to Blue Jays; Rox get Grichuk in return". MLB.com. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  14. Piellucci, Mike Can Raimel Tapia's Unorthodox Swing Trump Baseball's Conventional Wisdom? Vice Sports. March 20, 2016
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