Raimel Antonio Tapia Linarez (born February 4, 1994) is a Dominican

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who is a free agent. Tapia made his MLB debut in 2016 with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fi ...

and has also played in MLB for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Career

Colorado Rockies

The

signed Tapia as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2010. He spent the 2013 season with the

Grand Junction Rockies The Grand Junction Jackalopes are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Grand Junction, Colorado, and play their home games ...

of the Rookie-level Pioneer League, and was named the league's player of the month for July. He had a 29-game

hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak is the number of consecutive official games in which a player appears and gets at least one base hit. According to the Official Baseball Rules, such a streak is not necessarily ended when a player has at least 1 pla ...

for Grand Junction. After the season, he was named the

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Pioneer League Player of the Year for 2013 and was named by

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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. Raimel Tapia (23631833088) (cropped)

Tapia began the 2016 season with the

Hartford Yard Goats The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats, which play in the Eastern League, are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team was founded in 2016 when the New Britain ...

of the

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Eastern League, and was selected to appear in the 2016

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. The Rockies promoted him to the

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

of the

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in August. The Rockies promoted Tapia to the major leagues on September 2, 2016. On July 20, 2018, Tapia hit a two out, two strike, go-ahead pinch hit

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the top of the 7th inning against

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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. He had the fastest baserunning sprint speed of all major league designated hitters, at 28.6 feet/second. Tapia received more playing time in 2020 after

Ian Desmond Ian Morgan Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Desmond is a ...

opted out of the season because of the

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. 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%.

Toronto Blue Jays

On March 24, 2022, Tapia and Adrian Pinto were traded to the

in exchange for Randal Grichuk. On July 22, 2022, in the top of the 3rd inning, Tapia hit an inside the park

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against the

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, the second in franchise history. The Blue Jays would go on to win the game 28-5, setting a franchise record for the most runs scored in a single game. On November 15, 2022, Tapia was designated for assignment. He was non-tendered and became a free agent on November 18.

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.Piellucci, Mik
Can Raimel Tapia's Unorthodox Swing Trump Baseball's Conventional Wisdom?
''Vice Sports''. March 20, 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tapia, Raimel 1994 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Asheville Tourists players Colorado Rockies players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Rockies players Grand Junction Rockies players Hartford Yard Goats players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Modesto Nuts players Sportspeople from San Pedro de Macorís Salt River Rafters players Toronto Blue Jays players