John Jaso #28

John Edward Jaso...Is a 2001 graduate of McKinleyville (CA) High School, where he was a pitcher, catcher and shortstop for the Panthers baseball team...Attended Southwestern Junior College...Had a scholarship to the University of San Diego, but opted to sign to play professionally...His maternal grandfather, Michael Bajo, was a pitcher in White Sox minor league system in 1941..Participated in the annual team caravan and PirateFest event this past December.

2016

Set career highs in games, at bats, hits and doubles during his first season in the National League...Was Pittsburgh's most-used starter at first base (99 games) and also led the team with his 79 starts from the leadoff spot of the batting order...Produced a .320 average (8-for-25) as a pinch hitter; went 7-for-10 off the bench between 8/19 and 9/9...Hit .261 and produced a .341 OBP and 35 runs from the leadoff spot... Collected his only hit off a LHP in his third at bat of the season against a southpaw on 5/6 at St. Louis (single off Tyler Lyons)...Went 1-for-20 against lefties overall...Was Pittsburgh's Opening Day starter at first base - just his third career game at that position and his first Major League start there...Was the first Pittsburgh first baseman to bat leadoff on Opening Day since Gary Redus in 1991 and just the fifth overall (also Paul Smith in 1953, George Grantham in 1927 and Wheeler Johnston in 1916)...Hit three leadoff home runs (4/30 vs. Cincinnati, 6/22 vs. San Francisco and 9/15 at Philadelphia)...Fell a triple shy of hitting for the cycle on 5/8 at St. Louis...Made his lone appearance (ninth career) in the outfield (RF) on 6/21 vs. San Francisco...Hit .314 in August and snapped an 0-for-20 streak with a double on 8/5...Batted .321 (27-for-84) and had a .424 OBP in his last 42 games (dating back to 8/5)...Went 42 games without a home run until hitting one on 8/28 at Milwaukee - his first homer since 6/22... Went 4-for-4 and hit for the cycle on 9/28 vs. Chicago; also set career high in hits and tied career high (second time) with five RBI in the contest...Became the first player ever to hit for the cycle at PNC Park and just the second Pirates player to do it in Pittsburgh since 1950... His three leadoff homers were the most by a Pirates player since Andrew McCutchen hit four in 2009.

2015

Was Tampa Bay's Opening Day starting DH and leadoff batter on 4/6 vs. Baltimore; drew a five-pitch walk and sustained a left wrist contusion on a head-first slide into second base (left the game in the third inning)…Became the first DH to hit leadoff on Opening Day since Frank Catalanotto did so with Texas in 2002…Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on 4/10 (retroactive to 4/7) and was later transferred to the 60-day D.L....Was reinstated from the D.L. on 7/7; singled as a pinch hitter in game one of a doubleheader at Kansas City that day and went 2-for-3 with a double, home run and walk in the nightcap...Tied his career high with three hits on 7/8 at Kansas City...Made his first career start in the outfield (left field) in the series finale on 7/9 and recorded his first career outfield assist…Made his lone start against a left-handed pitcher on 7/11 vs. Houston (Dallas Keuchel); was his first start against a LHP since 7/30/12 (Toronto's Ricky Romero)...Hit cleanup in a stretch of eight straight starts from 8/23 thru 9/4, his first starts there since 10/3/12 while playing with Seattle...Homered off the C-ring catwalk on 9/17 vs. Baltimore, the fifth time in Tropicana Field history a fair ball hit a catwalk and stayed there (last one coming on 9/17/08 by Boston's David Ortiz - D-ring)...Connected off Toronto's Marco Estrada for his fourth career leadoff homer on 10/3... Made a total of 41 starts as the designated hitter and seven in left field; also played two innings in right field on 8/17 at Houston...Made 37 of his 48 starts from the leadoff spot, where hit .323 (42-for-130) with 18 walks and a .404 on-base percentage...Led off 31 games as the DH; since 2008, the only players with more DH starts at leadoff in a season were Shin-Soo Choo (34 in 2014) and Johnny Damon (33 in 2011)...Went 6-for-18 (.333) with four walks and four RBI as a pinch hitter.

2014

Acquired in a five-player trade with Oakland on Jan 10...became the seventh major league player in club history to leave the Rays and return...batted .270 (218-for-808) in three seasons (277 games) since his last game with the Rays in 2011, including .302 (in 2012), .282 (in 2013) and .272 (in 2014) vs. right-handed pitching...For the second consecutive year had his season end early due to concussion-like symptoms...his last game was Aug 23...missed the final 34 games after missing the final 61 games of the 2013 season...Made 79 starts (47-C, 32-DH)...split time at catcher with Derek Norris...he and Norris combined for 19 HR and 95 RBI...All his starts came vs. RHP...hit .272 (77-for-283, 9-HR, 35-RBI) vs. RHP but only .167 (4-for-24, 0-HR, 5-RBI) vs. LHP...slugged .449 against righties, .208 against lefties...his last start vs. a southpaw was July 30, 2012 vs. TOR Ricky Romero...has made 171 starts since...Thirty-one of his 32 HR in his career have come vs. RHP...the only one against a lefty was on April 24, 2010 vs. TOR Ricky Romero at Tropicana Field...Was 6-for-16 (.375) with 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI and 3 BB as a pinch-hitter...among AL pinch-hitters, tied for 1st in extra-base hits (4), tied for 2nd in doubles and homers, and tied for 3rd in hits...Since 2010, he is tied with Matt Joyce and David Murphy for the AL lead in pinch-hits (17)...also ranks 2nd in walks (17) as a pinch-hitter...Was Oakland's leading hitter through May 3 with a .303 avg...Batted .355 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs, which ranked 5th in the AL...Hit a club-high and career-best .366 with 3 HR in 13 interleague games...Made a team-leading 46 starts batting second in the order...hit .358 with 4 HR and 17 RBI in 17 games batting leadoff...has a career .284 avg (91-for-320) batting leadoff including .331 (40-for-121) in two seasons with the A's...Started 6 games in the leadoff spot while catching, giving him 56 in his career, 2nd most all-time...On April 14 at LAA, hit a 2-run, pinch-hit HR with one out in the 9th inning off Ernesto Frieri to wipe out a 2-1 deficit and give the A's a 3-2 win...Struck out 4 times April 21 vs. TEX (for the second time in his career) and also stole a base...became the first Athletic since at least 1914 to record at least 4 SO and 1 SB in a game...Hit his second pinch-hit homer of the season June 22 vs. BOS, a game-tying solo shot with 2 outs in the 9th off Koji Uehara.

2013

Batted .271 with three home runs and 21 RBI in 70 games in a season that ended July 25 after suffering a concussion…added 38 walks for a .387 on-base percentage…the on-base percentage was fifth best in the American League among batters with 200 or more plate appearances…has a .391 on-base percentage over the last two years, which is fifth best in the AL among batters with 600 or more plate appearances… made each of his 55 starts (42 at catcher, 13 at designated hitter) against right-handed pitchers…hit .282 (51-for-181) with all 15 of his extra base hits (12 doubles, three home runs), 20 of his 21 RBI and 37 of his 38 walks against right-handers…was 5-for-26 (.192) against lefties…his career splits are .272 (258-for-948) against righties compared to .169 (25-for-148) against lefties…has hit 22 of his 23 career home runs off right-handed pitchers…batted .347 with runners in scoring position and has a .366 (45-for-123) average with RISP over the last two years, which is fourth best in the AL among batters with 100 or more plate appearances…was 4-for-21 (.190) with RISP and two outs this year…hit all three of his home runs on the road…has no home runs in 35 career games in the Coliseum…went 8-for-25 (.320) in interleague play…hit .175 when leading off an inning…batted .200 in 17 games overall at designated hitter…also appeared in one game at first base…tossed out just 2-of-30 (6.7%) attempted base stealers, which was the lowest mark in the AL among catchers with 30 or more games…was 2-for-11 (.182) with a home run, three RBI and three walks as a pinch hitter…is a .186 (11-for-59) career hitter in the pinch with 14 walks (.338 on-base percentage)…saw his most action with 28 starts in the two spot in the order…also hit .296 with a .415 on-base percentage in 14 starts in the leadoff spot.

OAKLAND: Was on his third consecutive Opening Day roster with his third team (Tampa Bay, 2011; Seattle, 2012)…hit his first career pinch hit home run April 9 at Los Angeles, a three-run shot off Kevin Jepsen in the seventh inning to give the A's a 7-5 lead…the three RBI were a season high…hit .360 over his first seven games but then went 19-for-87 (.218) over his next 30 contests from April 12 to May 18… made his only start against a left-handed pitcher April 19…matched his career high with three hits April 23 at Boston…also had three hits April 27 against Baltimore and June 3 at Milwaukee and now has 11 three-hit games in his career…went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in a start at catcher April 29 against Los Angeles (AL)…that would be the last time he did not reach base safely in a start at catcher all year… reached base via hit, walk or hit by pitch in each of his final 27 starts behind the plate from May 4 to July 24…that is the second longest such streak by a catcher in Oakland history (28, Gene Tenace, June 12-Sept. 25, 1973)…is hitting .299 with a .446 on-base percentage during the streak…tossed out David Murphy attempting to steal May 15 against Texas…opponents were then successful in each of their final 16 stolen base attempts off him…played first base May 24 at Houston, his second career appearance at first base (Aug. 25, 2010 at Los Angeles-AL)…had a career-high 17-game reaching base streak from May 21 to June 18…hit .345 with a .456 on-base percentage during the streak, which included a career-high nine-game hitting streak from May 25-June 13 (14 for 38, .368)…went 1-for-6 May 25 at Houston to put his on-base percentage at .338…then went 25-for-82 (.305) with 22 walks and a hit by pitch over his final 29 games for a .453 on-base percentage…hit .235 in May but batted .349 with a .463 on-base percentage in 13 games in June…had a single, a sacrifice fly and three walks in five plate appearances against Seattle June 16…the walks matched his career-high (fifth time)…also walked three times July 23 at Houston…homered June 18 at Texas to snap a 44-game homerless streak, which was the second longest of his career (48, June 10-Aug. 24, 2010)…went 9-for-40 (.225) over his final 16 games beginning June 19 but walked 13 times over that span for a .414 on-base percentage…was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list July 25…was transferred to the 15-day DL Aug. 8 and missed the remainder of the season.

 

2012

Batted .276 with 10 home runs and 50 RBI in 108 games in his lone season with Seattle...added 56 walks for a .394 on-base percentage...the on-base percentage was fifth best among American Leaguers with 300 or more plate appearances...his batting average and on-base percentage were career-highs... also had bests in slugging (.456), doubles (19), home runs, RBI, stolen bases (5) and strikeouts...had just 10 home runs in 203 games entering the season...finished with more walks than strikeouts (51) for the second time in his career...batted .302 (76-for-252) with all 10 of his home runs and 47 of his 50 RBI against right-handed pitching...hit .119 (5-for-42) against left-handers...his career splits are .270 (207- for-767) with 19 of his 20 home runs against righties compared to .164 (20-for-122) against lefties...had a .378 average with runners in scoring position, which was second best in the AL among players with 75 or more plate appearances with RISP (Gonzalez, BOS .398)...had a .225 career average with RISP entering the season...tied for first in the AL with seven game-winning RBI in the seventh inning or later (Jones, BAL)...19 of his 50 RBI gave the Mariners the lead...hit .235 with the bases empty compared to .328 with seven of his 10 home runs with runners on base...combined to bat .243 in April and May, .312 in June and July and .268 from Aug. 1 through the end of the season...had three home runs in 49 games before the All-Star Break, seven in 59 games after the break...started 83 games, including 44 at designated hitter and 39 at catcher...did not commit an error in 43 games (278 total chances) overall behind the plate...tossed out 6-of-33 (18.2%) attempted base stealers...hit .297 while catching compared to .247 as the designated hitter...was also 6-for-18 (.333) with three walks and four RBI in the pinch...had the fourth best batting average among AL pinch hitters with 10 or more plate appearances and ranked sixth in on-base percentage (.409)...was also second in hits and tied for sixth in RBI and walks...was just 3-for-30 (.100) in the pinch entering the season...saw his most playing time with 45 games batting clean-up...was honored as the Mariners Unsung Hero by the Seattle Chapter of the BBWAA.

2011

Spent his first full season in the Majors, appearing in 89 games for the Rays, including 67 starts at catcher...65 of 67 starts were against right-handed starters...Spent more than a month on the DL with a right oblique strain, July 10-Aug. 18...appeared in 6 games on rehab with AAA Durham...Hit .224 (55x246) with 5 HR, 27 RBI, 15 doubles and 25 walks...Started 50 of the team's 90 games prior to his stint on the DL...missed 33 games before returning Aug. 19...Hit .233 (55x246) with all 5 of his home runs off right-handed pitching...batted .161 (5x31) off lefties...started only 2 games against LH starters: June 3 at Seattle (Jason Vargas) & Aug 29 at Toronto (Ricky Romero)...Hit leadoff in 6 games after batting leadoff in 45 games in 2010.

2010

Was recalled from Triple-A Durham on April 13, when Kelly Shoppach was placed on the 15-day DL with a right knee sprain, and stayed with the Rays through season's end ... appeared in 109 games overall, with 88 starts including a team-high 80 starts at catcher and 8 at DH. ... Became the 14th rookie all-time to serve as the primary catcher for a team that reached the postseason (see chart). ... Hit leadoff in 45 games, most on the team... was inserted in the leadoff spot on June 5 at TEX, and stayed there for most of the remainder of the season. ... In 41 games, hit leadoff while catching...since 1901, only two catchers have hit leadoff in more games in one season: PIT/OAK Jason Kendall (five times) and CLE Rollie Hemsley (1939). ... Hit leadoff more times than any rookie catcher in major league history ... the previous record was 13 games by Hall of Famer Mickey Cochrane in 1925 with the Philadelphia A's ... became the first rookie catcher to bat leadoff in 34 years, since DET Bruce Kimm in 1976 ... was the first Rays catcher ever to bat leadoff. ... Led AL rookies and set a franchise rookie record with 59 walks, passing Akinori Iwamura's 2007 record of 58 ... this also ranked 5th alltime among rookie catchers, behind MIN Butch Wynegar (79 in 1976), MTL Gary Carter (72 in 1975), CHC Geovany Soto (62 in 2008) and TEX Jim Sundberg (62 in 1974). ... His 59 walks were countered by only 39 strikeouts, the best ratio of BB to SO of anyone in the majors with at least 400 PA. ... Led AL rookies with a .372 OBP, which ranked 3rd among major league rookies behind ATL Jason Heyward (.393) and FLA Logan Morrison (.390) ... the last AL rookie catcher to finish a season with an OBP as high as Jaso's (min. 100 games) was NYY Thurman Munson (.386 in 1970). ... Among AL rookies, ranked 3rd in batting (.263), 4th in RBI (44), 2nd in runs scored (57), 4th in hits (89) and tied for 4th in doubles (18). ... Hit his first career homer April 24 vs. TOR, a two-run shot off lefty Ricky Romero to give the Rays a 2-1 lead ... it was his only homer off a southpaw in 2010. ... Hit two leadoff homers: Aug 25 at LAA off Dan Haren and Sep 4 at BAL off Jeremy Guthrie. ... On June 6 at TEX -- his second game as the leadoff hitter -- totaled 5 RBI, becoming the first in Rays history to collect 5 RBI from the top spot in the order. ... Hit a team-high .315 (52-for-165) on the road with a .425 OBP and 4 of his 5 HR ... hit only .213 (37-for-174) at Tropicana Field. ... Caught 9 of 50 (18 percent) attempted base stealers on the year.

2009

With the exception of one day in the majors (July 12), spent the entire season with Triple-A Durham as the primary catcher...was recalled on July 12-the final game before the major league All-Star break-when Grant Balfour was placed on the bereavement list, but did not appear in that game...was officially optioned back to Durham on July 17, before the first game of the second half. ...Ended the year hitting .415 (17-for-41) over his final 12 games and .364 (24-for-66) over his final 21 games starting Aug 1...was hitting only .240 on July 31...hit .247 before the All-Star break and .306 after. ...Hit nearly 100 points better in home games (.313; 51-for-163) than on the road (.220; 37- for-168). ...Threw out 16.8 percent (18 of 107) of attempted base stealers. ...Played in 4 postseason games for the International League champion Bulls, batting .200 (2- for-10) with 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 R and 3 BB. ...Baseball America rated him as having the best strike-zone discipline in the organization entering the year.

2008

Was recalled Sep 2, 2008 from Durham at the conclusion of the Bulls regular season...began the year with Double-A Montgomery and earned a promotion to Durham shortly after he was named to the Southern League midseason All-Star Team. ...Appeared in 5 games, starting one at catcher... recorded his first major league hit off Chris Smith Sep 15 vs. BOS, a single to right field. ...Made his major league debut Sep 6 at TOR, pinch-hitting for Justin Ruggiano in the 13th inning, and grounded out...his groundout helped advance Fernando Perez, who would score the go-ahead run to make it 4-3, but the Rays lost in the inning's bottom half on Gregg Zaun's walk-off grand slam. ...Combined to hit .273 with 12 HR, 67 RBI, 20 2B, 64 R, and a .391 OBP in 116 games between his stops at Double-A and Triple-A... threw out 26.7 percent of attempted base stealers...drew 72 walks compared to 47 strikeouts combining both levels. ...From June 1 through season's end, hit a combined .302 with 9 HR, 40 RBI, .421 OBP and .484 SLG...before June 1, hit .234 with 3 HR, 27 RBI, .350 OBP and .347 SLG. ...Tallied 6 RBI on Aug 3 in a 12-7 loss to Charlotte, including a grand slam.

2007

Played in 109 games for AA Montgomery en route to the Southern League championship...appeared in all 9 playoff games for the Biscuits and led the league with 8 postseason RBI...named to the SL midseason and postseason All-Star teams...also tabbed as the starting catcher for the Topps Double-A All-Star Team and Baseball America's AA All-Star Team...ranked 2nd in Southern League and 3rd in Rays organization batting .316 (120x380)...also 3rd in SL with .408 OBP...named Rays minor league Player of the Month for May after hitting .374 with 4 HR, 24 RBI and 10 doubles...in August, hit at a .378 clip with 4 HR and 20 RBI to earn Southern League Player of the Month honors.

2006

Named a California League All-Star with Visalia...ranked 3rd in the Rays organization with a .309 batting average (113x366)...served primarily as the Oaks DH as he continued to recover from a rotator cuff injury...did not appear at catcher until June 12.

2005

Led Southwest Michigan with a .307 batting average (102x332), 6th in the Midwest League...named MWL midseason and postseason All-Star...rotator cuff surgery ended his season on Aug 7.

2004

Named Hudson Valley's 2004 Player of the Year...recognized as a New York-Penn League All-Star...appeared in 25 games at catcher, 17 at DH and 14 at first base.