Andrew Guillotte has had a lot to clap about so far in 2017.
Andrew Guillotte has been a man on the move in 2017 but never more so than this past week. The 2015 Vancouver Canadians outfielder has spent most of the year with the Class-A Advanced Dunedin Blue Jays before getting promoted all the way to Triple-A Buffalo over the weekend.
Guillotte made his Bisons debut Friday night in the 12th inning against Pawtucket when he entered the game in right field to replace 2012-2013 C’s outfielder Ian Parmley, who moved to the mound. Guillotte tapped back to the mound in his first at-bat but did record his first major league putout in right to start the top of the 13th. He got the start in center field the next night and lined a base hit to left in his third at-bat and would score his first run as a Bison.
Guillotte will have another uniform to put on this week as he has been reassigned to Double-A New Hampshire. Before all of this, Guillotte was on a six-game hitting streak and had reached base in 11 straight with Dunedin. His last game in the Florida State League saw him single and score on Troy Tulowitzki‘s base hit to put the D-Jays on the board. Guillotte would draw a walk before getting another base rap and scoring a run on a wild pitch in an eventual Dunedin victory May 18.
The night before, Guillotte made two huge contributions in the D-Jays game versus the Charlotte Stone Crabs. His first was throwing out a runner at second base from center field after a single to start the third inning. That play loomed even larger when T.J. Zeuch gave up a single later in the inning but the 2016 first round pick and former Canadian got out of the inning without any further damage. The second contribution from Guillotte was a leadoff double in the seventh and he would later score on a base hit by 2014 Vancouver Canadian Max Pentecost. That turned out to be the winning run in Dunedin’s 7-6 victory.
The 24 year-old Guillotte is quite familiar with stomping on the pentagon as he still leads the Florida State League with 34 runs scored and is in the league’s top five in stolen bases with 14. He put up a slash line of .293/.363/.400 with 10 doubles, two home runs and 14 runs batted in. FanGraphs shows Guillotte has a line drive rate of 21 percent, the first time he’s reached 20 percent in his career.
Andrew Guillotte stepped on home more than anyone else in the Florida State League this season at the time of his call-up.
After being strictly an outfielder with the C’s, Guillotte has been adding to his defensive portfolio over the last two years. He saw time at second base by playing six games between Lansing and Dunedin last season and committed just one error in 52 chances. The Moss Bluff, Louisiana native also made one start at third and did not have a ‘E5’ next to his name on the boxscore. This season, he has played four games at second this season but has been on the other side of the keystone more often with seven starts at short. He has made a couple of errors in 38 opportunities but has been involved in turning nine double plays.
Andrew Guillotte has earned 38 assists in the outfield so far in his three-year career.
Guillotte has played all over the outfield for Dunedin and has two outfield assists so far this year. Last season, he was credited with 15 OA’s for Lansing and one for Dunedin.
Guillotte had a chat with Brian Crawford of JaysProspects after the 2016 season about how he plays the game.
“I’m an aggressive guy that’s a bit of a pest. I guess being a little guy that comes with the territory…If one of the first few pitches are there, I’m going to go for it. It also depends on the situation in the game, but as far as it goes for me I’m an action guy that tries to get on base any way I can. That’s the mindset that I go with every night, and since getting walks can be difficult at times in my role, I mainly focus on getting hits.”
Let the record state the above quote about Guillotte’s height was the first mention of it in this story. He measures in at 5-foot-8 and that did not do him any favours at the 2015 draft. That year, the Blue Jays chose him in the 32nd round despite capturing 2nd team All Southland Conference team honours in 2015 and 1st team commendations the year before at McNeese State. He left the Cowboys as the their all-time hit leader with 247 career hits.
Andrew’s father, Bill, told Clutchlings that his son has not let his diminutive size get in the way on the diamond.
“When Andrew was 8 or 9 he told me he couldn’t wait to be the biggest kid in the team. Knowing that I am only 5’7”, he was never going to be the biggest kid on the team. So I told him, Andrew, you will never be the biggest kid on the team, that is why you have to play with the biggest HEART!! I know I am biased, but I don’t know another kid who loves the game of baseball more than Andrew Guillotte.”
Andrew Guillotte was a fan favourite of the Nat Bailey faithful in 2015.
His style of play made an impression on fans at Nat Bailey Stadium as he was named the Fan’s Choice Player of the Year in 2015 after posting a OBP of .356 and stealing 17 bases.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats hope Guillotte can give them a much-needed boost as they look to climb out of the cellar of the Eastern League.
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