Dubón also proved valuable in the eighth when Olson doubled and advanced to third base on a slap bunt. This wasn’t anything called from the dugout. Dubón knew he had to get the runner to third and did so by showing bunt, before pulling the bat back to slap a grounder to the right side. This positioned Olson to score on Albies’ game-winning single in uncontested fashion.
“Our 140-pound cleanup hitter threw in a run, too,” Weiss said with a laugh. “That's why he's there. It's because of contact and because he puts together at-bats like you’ve seen him put together. He’s just a tough out, especially in those situations with guys in scoring position, because he's using the entire field, and he can shoot the ball down the right-field line. He can also set you up and turn on something inside. I mean, he's just a really heady player.”
Olson leads the Majors in extra-base hits and Chris Sale is in the running for another Cy Young Award. But any conversation about who has been the most valuable Braves player this season has to at least include Dubón, the guy who became available because the Astros didn’t want to pay him approximately $6 million.
During the Aug. 3 media session that followed the Trade Deadline, I said, “It feels like Dubón should be the starting shortstop, and if Dubón is the starting shortstop, why would you keep [Jim] Jarvis up?”
After president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos replied by implying they were sticking with Jarvis as the primary shortstop, I said, "So Dubón will just be rotating [positions]?”
“I’m not into giving titles because things change,” Anthopoulos said.
Three weeks later, Dubón is the starting shortstop and the cleanup hitter. The more things have changed, the more valuable he has become.
