Alex Ríos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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|
|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays — No. 15 | |
| Right Fielder | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| May 27, 2004 for the Toronto Blue Jays | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) |
|
| Avg | .283 |
| HR | 28 |
| RBI | 169 |
Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981 in Coffee, Alabama) is a right fielder in Major League Baseball who 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.
[edit] 2006 Season
After his participation with the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic Ríos, a player often touted as having "unlimited" potential, begun to show why the Blue Jays have been so high on him in the 2006 season. His 2006 campaign has by far proven to be 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 also known as a very good defensive player, and is considered to be one a few "five-tool players", meaning he can hit for average, hit for power, play good defense, possesses a very good arm (in his rookie season he was 3rd in the MLB in outfield assists), and also has very good speed.
Ríos' walking-to-the-plate theme music is "Bandoleros" by Don Omar and Tego Calderon. 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 allowed to attend his first All-Star Game festivities during the July 10 weekend at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
His stats dipped after the all-star break, the result of the serious staph infection which hospitalized him and badly sapped his strength. However, after an awful July and August, his peformance again surged to pre-staph infection levels in September.
On February 2, 2007 the Blue Jays and Rios agreed to a 1 year $2.535 million contract. This means that Alex and Toronto will not have to go through the arbitration process.
[edit] External links
- ESPN - profile and daily updates
- Baseball Reference - major league statistics
- Sports Wired - minor league statistics
