Jason Coats

Position: OF
Born: 2/24/1990
Height: 6'2
Weight: 200
B/T: R/R
Acquired: Drafted in the 29th round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft (CHW).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: .335 with seven homers, 24 RBIs and one steal in 43 games at Charlotte (Triple-A) with 13 doubles and two triples for a .567 SLG.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Charlotte June 4 when RHP Tommy Kahnle was sent down.
MLB Debut Date: 6/4/2016

Debut Details
June 4 in a 7-4 loss to the Tigers. The starting left fielder, he batted eighth and went 0-for-1 with a walk before leaving the game in the bottom of the seventh inning when he suffered a bloody lip and was shaken up in an outfield collision with center fielder J.B. Shuck. In his first at-bat in the second inning, Coats drew a two-out walk, and then he was hit by a pitch in the fourth by Tigers starter Mike Pelfrey. In the sixth, he fouled out on a pop up behind home plate.

Player Notes
Happily, Coats was okay after the scary-looking collision in his debut (though perhaps he and Shuck were distracted by vision issues caused by the rather garish throwback pajama uniforms they were wearing). He was enjoying a very impressive first two months in the minors after hitting .276 with 17 homers, 83 RBIs and 38 doubles between Birmingham (Double-A) and Charlotte in 2015, when he led the organization in total bases (236), doubles and RBIs and added 148 hits. Coats was actually drafted in the 12th round of the 2011 draft as a junior at TCU but did not sign and then dropped to the 29th round as a senior after suffering a torn ACL. An extra-base hits machine as a pro, he collected 15 homers and 38 doubles between Winston-Salem (High A) and Birmingham in 2014 after posting 12 home runs and 38 doubles in his pro debut in 2013 (he did not play until ’13 because of the ACL injury). Boasting a career .446 SLG in his first three full pro seasons, he projects most likely as a fourth outfielder, but don’t rule out his improving that projection with his hustle.