| Mauricio Dubón | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Dubón with theSan Antonio Missions in 2019 | |
| Atlanta Braves | |
| Utility player | |
| Born: (1994-07-19)July 19, 1994 (age 31) San Pedro Sula,Honduras | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 7, 2019, for the Milwaukee Brewers | |
| MLB statistics (through 2025 season) | |
| Batting average | .257 |
| Home runs | 39 |
| Runs batted in | 200 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Mauricio Andre Dubón (Spanish pronunciation:[duˈβon] born July 19, 1994) is aHonduran professionalbaseballutility player for theAtlanta Braves ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for theMilwaukee Brewers,San Francisco Giants, andHouston Astros. He made his MLB debut in 2019.
FromSan Pedro Sula, Dubón moved toSacramento, California, at age 15. He is the second native-born Honduran to play in the major leagues. In 2022, Dubón became the first-ever Honduran player to appear in the playoffs, as well as the first to win aWorld Series. In 2023, he became the first Honduran to win aGold Glove Award.[1]
Mauricio Dubón was born and raised inSan Pedro Sula,Honduras, where he attended Liceo Bilingüe Centroamericano High School. At age 15, a Christian mission group that was visiting Honduras saw Dubón play baseball and invited him to move to the United States to hone his baseball skills while attending high school. Dubón accepted the offer and moved toSacramento, California, where he enrolled at Capital Christian High School as a foreign exchange student.[2][3]
Dubón posted a .509batting average (86-for-169) after his junior and senior years at Capital Christian High School, including 23doubles, 14triples, eighthome runs, and 81runs batted in (RBIs) before being drafted by theBoston Red Sox. He was ranked byBaseball America as the best defensive player among the 2013 Red Sox draft picks.[4] Dubón is the first Capital Christian alumnus to have been drafted into professional baseball.[5]
The Red Sox selected Dubón in the 26th round of the2013 MLB draft. After batting .245 in 20 games for theGCL Red Sox shortly after signing, Dubón was promoted to theLowell Spinners in 2014 and ranked among the top ten in theNew York–Penn League with a .320 batting average (82-for-256).[6]
For theGreenville Drive in 2015, Dubón hit .364 through his first 11 games and had hit safely in 10 of those contests. He finished the season with High-ASalem Red Sox of theCarolina League, hitting a combined .288/.349/.376slash line with 30stolen bases in 120 games during the two stints.[7] He was an SAL mid-season All Star.[8] He then was invited by the Boston Red Sox to participate in their 2016 spring training.[9]
Dubón continued his development at Salem in 2016, earning a spot in the Carolina League All-Star team to play in the 2016 California-Carolina League All-Star Game.[10] He was promoted to Double-APortland Sea Dogs following his appearance in the All-Star Game. At the time of his promotion, Dubón had a .306/.387/.379 line over 238 at-bats with a good approach producing more walks (33) than strikeouts (25).[7] The .306 average was good for third in the Carolina League, and the on-base percentage ranked sixth. Besides, his speed has also continued to be a huge part of his game, stealing 24 bases in 28 attempts, for the sixth best in the league.[11]
At Double-A, Dubón improved his slash line to .339/.371/.538 over 62 games with Portland, including 23 multi-hits games, six home runs and 40 RBI. Overall, he hit .323/.379/.461 with 101 runs, 69 RBI and 30 stolen bases in the two stints. Besides, he led the Red Sox minors system in runs and hits (157), while his .323 average was the second-best toAneury Tavárez (.330).[12] In addition, he finished third in stolen bases behindYoan Moncada (45) and Danny Mars (31) and sixth in RBIs.[12] He was a Carolina League mid-season All Star.[8] He then was selected to join theSurprise Saguaros of theArizona Fall League during the postseason.[13]
On December 6, 2016, the Red Sox traded Dubón,Travis Shaw, and Josh Pennington to theMilwaukee Brewers in exchange forTyler Thornburg.[14] He spent 2017 with both theBiloxi Shuckers and theColorado Springs Sky Sox, posting a combined .274 batting average with eight home runs, 57 RBIs and 38 stolen bases in 129 total games between both teams.[15] He was a Southern League mid-season All Star.[8] The Brewers added him to their 40-man roster after the season.[16]
MLB.com ranked Dubón as Milwaukee's 11th-ranked prospect going into the 2018 season.[17] He spent the 2018 season with theColorado Springs Sky Sox, batting .343 with four home runs, 18 RBIs, and six stolen bases in only 27 games due to injury.[18]
He played most of 2019 with theSan Antonio Missions, batting .297/.333/.475 with 59 runs, 16 home runs, and 47 RBIs in 404 at bats.[19]
On July 7,2019, the Brewers promoted Dubón to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that day against thePittsburgh Pirates, grounding out as a pinch hitter; he had two major league at bats with the Brewers for the season.[20][21][22] He became the second Honduran to make it to MLB, after outfielderGerald Young.[23]
On July 31, 2019, the Brewers traded Dubón to theSan Francisco Giants in exchange for pitchersRay Black andDrew Pomeranz.[24] With theSacramento River Cats, the Triple–A affiliate of the Giants, in 2019 he batted .323/.391/.485 with 23 runs, 4 home runs, and 9 RBI in 99 at–bats.[25] Dubón started at second base for the Giants on August 29, getting his first Major League hit, with his California family in attendance. With the Giants in 2019, he batted .279/.312/.442 with 12 runs, 4 home runs, and 9 RBI in 104 at–bats.[25] He played 22 games at second base, and 9 games at shortstop.[26]
In2020, Dubón batted .274/.337/.389 for the Giants with 21 runs, 4 home runs, and 19 RBI in 117 at–bats in 54 games. He played 44 games in center field, 8 games at shortstop, and 8 games at second base.[26]
In the 2021 regular season, Dubón batted .240/.278/.377 with 9 doubles, 5 home runs, and 22 RBI in 175 at–bats in 74 games with the Giants. He played 27 games in center field, 21 games at shortstop, 20 games at second base, and 12 games at third base. He also played for the River Cats in 2021, where he batted .332/.410/.498 with 41 runs, 8 home runs, 31 RBI, and 9 steals in 247 at–bats.[26]
On May 14, 2022, Dubón was traded to theHouston Astros in exchange forcatcherMichael Papierski. With this trade, Dubón also joined Gerald Young as the second Honduran to play for the Astros.[27]
Dubón started at shortstop on June 19, 2022, and hit his first home run in an Astros uniform, in the seventh inning versusChicago White Sox starterMichael Kopech as the Astros won, 4–3.[28] On August 21, Dubón batted leadoff and started at second base versus theAtlanta Braves, collecting two hits, a stolen base, and scoring two runs to catalyze a 5–4 Houston win.[29] Dubón started in center field on August 28 versus theBaltimore Orioles, collecting one single and two outfieldassists, rifling out bothRobinson Chirinos andJorge Mateo at third base.[30]
In 2022, Dubón batted .208/.254/.294 in 197 at bats.[31] On defense, he played 45 games in center field, 17 games at shortstop, 16 games at second base, nine games in left field, and three games in right field. He appeared in each of the Astros' series during thepostseason for a total of six games.[31] In theWorld Series, the Astros defeated thePhiladelphia Phillies in six games to give Dubón his first career World Series title.[32] He also became the first Honduran-born player in Major League history to both play in and win a World Series.[23]
On January 13,2023, Dubón avoided arbitration with the Astros, agreeing to a one-year, $1.4 million contract for the season.[33] Early in April, he took over regular duties at second base and asleadoff hitter forJose Altuve, who was recovering from a fractured thumb sustained during theWorld Baseball Classic (WBC).[34] From April 2–26, Dubón compiled a 20-gamehitting streak,[35] making him the 15th Astro to do so, and the longest since2011 whenHunter Pence hit in 23 consecutive games.[36] When Altuve returned from theinjured list on May 19, Dubón's .309 batting average ranked sixth in theAmerican League (AL) and his 46 hits led the Astros.[37] On September 4, 2023, Dubón and Altuve batted ninth and leadoff, respectively, and connected for back-to-back home runs in the sixth and ninth innings versus theTexas Rangers. PerOptaSTATS, it was the first time in major league history that the number nine and leadoff hitters hit back-to-back home runs twice in the same game. It was Dubón's first career multi-home run game.[38] Dubón delivered his first career walk-off hit in the major leagues on September 20, 2023, a single versusDanny Coulombe of theBaltimore Orioles to scoreYainer Díaz.[39]
For the 2023 season, Dubón reached career highs in nearly every offensive category, playing in 132 games, accruing 492 plate appearances, and batting .278/.309/.411. His career highs included 76 runs scored, 130 hits, 26 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 46 RBI, 7 stolen bases, 19 walks, and 70 strikeouts. He appeared most at second base (79 games) and center field (29), and also at shortstop (9), left field (9), right field (2), first base (2), and third base (1).[26] Named aGold Glove finalist at two positions—second base and utility player[40]—Dubón was awarded the Gold Glove for utility players and became the first-ever Honduran player to win a Gold Glove Award.[41]
On July 31,2024, Dubón hit his first career pinch hit home run, a two-run home run the sixth inning to cap a 5–4 win over thePittsburgh Pirates.[42] Following the regular season, he was announced as the recipient of the annualDarryl Kile Good Guy Award by theHouston chapter of theBaseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA).[43] Dubón played in a career–high 137 games for the Astros in 2024, slashing .269/.296/.361 with four home runs and 47 RBI. On October 9, it was announced that he would be undergoing surgery to repair atorn ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb.[44]
On January 9,2025, the Astros signed Dubón to a $5 million contract for the season, avoiding arbitration.[45] As a starter in left field on June 6 atProgressive Field, Dubón recorded two assists in the bottom of the first inning against theCleveland Guardians to become the sixth player in franchise history to notch two outfield assists in the same inning.[Note 1][46] On June 15, Dubón's single to the left field wall with two outs in the 10th inning scoredJake Meyers as the go-ahead run and ignite a walk-off, 2–1 win over theMinnesota Twins, his second career walk-off hit.[47] Dubón played in 133 games for the Astros in 2025, slashing .241/.289/.355 with seven home runs and 33 RBI. He appeared most at left field (48 games) and second base (46), and also at shortstop (33), third base (24), center field (17), first base (4), and right field (3).[26] On November 2, Dubón was awarded the Gold Glove for utility players for the second time in his career.[48]
On November 19, 2025, the Astros traded Dubón to theAtlanta Braves in exchange forNick Allen.[49]
Dubón is aChristian.[50][51] He's also a fan of English football clubManchester City.[52]
In Honduras, a planned baseball stadium inJuticalpa, Olancho, will be named after him.[53] The construction of Estadio Mauricio Dubón was expected to be completed by 2022, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[54]
