Jay Bruce

Jay Bruce
Bruce before his Major League debut with the Reds.
Cincinnati Reds – No. 32
Outfielder
Born: April 3, 1987 (1987-04-03) Beaumont, Texas
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
May 27, 2008 for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.256
Home runs	100
Runs batted in	277
Base on Balls	200
Slugging percentage	.474
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
1× All-Star (2011) National League Player of the Month (May 2011) 3× National League Player of the Week (9/24/2010, 5/22/2011, 8/7/2011)

Jay Allen Bruce (born April 3, 1987, from Beaumont, Texas) is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds. He was selected 12th overall in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft.

He bats and throws left-handed. He has been listed as a top prospect in both his league and as an outfielder overall. He is nicknamed Bruce Almighty, "The Boss", "The Beaumont Bomber", "Hard Jay," and "The Deal".

High school

Bruce attended West Brook High School in Beaumont, TX where he was selected as a third-team High School All-American. He was drafted 12th in the first round of the 2005 MLB Amateur draft.

Minor leagues

Bruce's professional career began in 2005 in the GCL, playing for the Reds' lowest rookie team. He hit .270 in 37 games before moving on to the Reds' rookie affiliate Billings Mustangs. There he hit for a .257 batting average with 4 home runs and 13 RBI.

In 2006, he was bumped to the Reds' Low-A affiliate Dayton Dragons, where he excelled with a .291 average and 16 home runs, placing him in many top prospect lists. For the 2007 season, Bruce was placed with the Reds' high-A team, the Sarasota Reds, then quickly promoted to the Reds' Double-A team, the Chattanooga Lookouts. He was selected to the 2007 All-Star Futures Game. Bruce was then promoted to the Reds' Triple-A club, the Louisville Bats, where he ended the season by winning Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award.

Reds General Manager Wayne Krivsky informed Bruce and the media that Bruce would not get a look in the big leagues in 2007; however, during the Reds' final game of the 2007 season, Bruce was recognized for winning the Minor League Player of the Year award.

Major leagues

2008 season

Bruce was invited to the Reds' 2008 spring training. On March 20, Bruce was reassigned to the team's minor league camp, and started the season at Louisville. Bruce hit .262 with an OBP of .279 in his first spring training.

On May 27, 2008, the Reds organization called Bruce up and he made his major league debut against right-handed pitcher Ian Snell of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bruce made his debut in center field, batting 3-for-3 with two singles and one double. He drove in two runs, scored twice, walked twice, and stole a base. In his second game, May 28, 2008, also against Pittsburgh, he added a double, another stolen base, and two more walks. Bruce became the first Major League player since 1977 to reach base in his first six plate appearances. Some began to wonder whether he would be "the next Ryan Braun". On May 30 Bruce went 4-for-5 in a 3–2, 11-inning win over the Atlanta Braves. Bruce doubled in the tying run and scored the winning run in the 11th inning after leading off the inning with a single. Bruce launched his first Major League home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Reds a walk-off win. One day later, on June 1, he went 2 for 3 with a home run, a single, 2 runs batted in, and 1 base on balls. Bruce had a 1.000 slugging percentage after his first six games – the only major league player since 1969 to achieve a higher slugging percentage after his first six games was Mike Jacobs in 2005. On June 2, Bruce hit the third home run of his career while going 2-for-4 in Philadelphia against the Phillies' Kyle Kendrick. In his first full week in the majors, he batted .577 (15-for-26), with three home runs, three doubles, and nine singles in addition to six bases on balls. He also scored 12 runs, and batted in 7 more runs. The Reds had a winning percentage of .714 (5–2) during his first week. Before Bruce was called up to the majors, they had a winning percentage of .451 (23–28), and had lost 5 of the last 7 games.

Bruce had a 12-game hitting streak during the month of July.

To open August, after nearly half of a month without a home run, Bruce hit a home run in back-to-back games against the Washington Nationals. Two games later, Bruce hit his 10th home run of the season and his third of the month against the Milwaukee Brewers. In the final game of the Brewers' series, Bruce hit his 11th home run of the season. Following the trades of veteran outfielders Ken Griffey, Jr. and Adam Dunn, Bruce hit his 12th home run of the season in a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

On defense, in 2008 he tied for the lead among all major league outfielders in errors, with 11.

2009 Season

Jay Bruce preparing to take batting practice

On Monday April 6, Bruce started his first ever Opening Day game, going 1–4 at the plate with a double off the wall in left-center field to give the Reds their first hit off Johan Santana in the game. Bruce also threw a runner out at home plate in the Reds 2–1 loss to the New York Mets. On April 11 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bruce threw out his second runner of the season at home plate and drove in 2 runs in a 1–4 day at the plate. Bruce hit his first home run of the season April 13 in the win over Milwaukee, finished 1–3 batting with 2 runs and 2 RBI. After missing time due to injury, Bruce bounced back with back-to-back homers on April 21 to April 22 against the Chicago Cubs. On April 26, in the 8–2 win over the Atlanta Braves, Bruce went 3 for 3 with two home runs and 4 RBI. A week later on May 4 Bruce hit his 6th home run of the season off Pittsburgh Pirates starter Jeff Karstens in a victory. Bruce homered in back to back home games on May 6 and May 7 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

On July 11 Bruce fractured his right wrist while making a diving play in right field in the first inning of a game against the New York Mets.

On September 14, Bruce made his return against the Houston Astros, pinch hitting with the bases loaded in the 7th inning. Bruce's 2-run single gave the Reds a 2–1 lead that would hold up as the game winning hit. Two nights later on September 16 Bruce had a 2-run single in the first inning that would allow Cincinnati to defeat the Houston Astros 3–2.

2010 Season

On April 18, Bruce homered twice in a 5–3 road loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. On April 25, Bruce went 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI, scoring the game-winning run in 5–4 win against the San Diego Padres. This win ended the Padres 8-game winning streak.

On June 30, Bruce hit the game winning home run off Phillies ace Roy Halladay.

On August 27, Bruce hit three home runs – two off Tom Gorzelanny and another off Scott Maine in Maine's MLB debut- against the Chicago Cubs.

On September 28, Bruce hit a bottom-of-the-ninth inning, first-pitch, walk-off home run off Astros pitcher Tim Byrdak to clinch the NL Central title for the Reds. It is the team's first trip to the postseason since 1995.

Bruce's September 28 home run was the Capital One Premier Play of the Year.

Bruce was the only baserunner allowed during Roy Halladay's no-hitter in game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.

On December 9, 2010 the Reds agreed to extend Bruce to a 6 year $51MM deal and it includes a $12MM option for a seventh year.

2011 Season

After finishing March/April hitting .237, with 4 home runs, 11 RBI, and striking out 27 times, Bruce came back strong in May, batting .342, with 12 home runs, 33 RBI, and only striking out 21 times, which was good enough for him to win NL Player of the Month for May.

Was selected to play in the 2011 All Star Game

At age 24 years, 5 months, and 191 days, Bruce hit his 100th career home run on September 27, becoming the 3rd youngest Red to reach 100 home runs behind Johnny Bench and Frank Robinson who both accomplished that feat at age 23.

Awards

• 2010 – Tommy Edwards Sportsman of the Year
• 2007 – Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Award
• 2007 – Baseball America Minor League All-Star
• 2007 – FSL Mid-Season All-Star
• 2006 – Baseball American Minor League All-Star
• 2006 – Midwest League (MID) Post-Season All-Star
• 2006 – MID Mid-Season All-Star
• 2006 – MID All-Star Game Top Star

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Baseball America, Player of the Year Award
• The Book on Jay Bruce from ScoutingBook.com
• Jay Bruce Biography from USA Today