Willy Taveras

Willy Taveras (born December 25, 1981, in Tenares, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball center fielder who is currently playing for the Colorado Rockies.

Professional career

Houston Astros

Taveras played in 10 games at the end of the Astros season, mostly as a pinch runner.

In , he led the majors in infield hits (71), bunt hits (31), and singles (152), and was tops among rookies in runs (82), hits (172), and stolen bases (34; 6th in the NL). He hit .291. Taveras was the Astros' starting center fielder during his rookie season (2005), replacing Carlos Beltrán, who signed with the New York Mets in the offseason. After the season, Taveras was voted National League Rookie of the Year by the players (Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies won the actual Rookie of the Year Award).

In , Taveras' batting average regressed to .278, though he again led the majors in bunt hits (21) and had 33 stolen bases (10th in the NL), but just 30 RBI.

Colorado Rockies

On December 12, 2006, Taveras was traded along with Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh by the Astros to the Colorado Rockies for Rockies pitchers Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio.

In a 22-inning game played between April 17–18, , at Petco Park, Taveras set a Rockies' club record with 10 at-bats in the game.

He led MLB with 68 stolen bases during the 2008 season, and led the NL with 24 bunt hits. At the same time, his .296 slugging percentage was the lowest in the majors. Defensively, however, he had the lowest...
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