While other players were prepping for this season at spring training Gardner Minshew II Jersey , Jose Bautista was on his own.

Bautista remained eager to catch on somewhere and knew he needed to be resourceful. So to stay in game shape, the 37-year-old slugger spent his days back home in Florida hopping from gym workouts to local ballfields.

Sometimes he ended up at the University of Tampa, or Tampa Catholic High School. Wherever he could find an empty diamond to hit and do defensive drills.

”I was trying to mimic somewhat the same program,” said Bautista, who has quickly become a rare bright spot for the New York Mets this year. ”I mean, it wasn’t the easiest thing.”

His agent helped him scrounge up batting-practice pitchers to simulate game situations as best they could. High school kids, college players, other free agents looking for work.

Bautista figures he got about 30 ”at-bats” or so in April, when the regular season was already underway for everyone else. All the while, the former Toronto Blue Jays star waited for a new opportunity.

”Yeah, different fields. Whatever was available and whatever people could get to,” he said.

Not exactly an ideal way to sharpen up for Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw. But after struggling through a 12-game stint with the Atlanta Braves in May, mostly at third base, Joey Bats has hardly missed a beat since arriving in New York. He had a .944 OPS over 35 games going into Sunday and had already batted in every spot for the Mets besides ninth.

”He never backed off,” teammate and close friend Jose Reyes said last week. ”He always was working.”

Next up, a nice reward.

On deck this week is the first trip for Bautista back to Toronto, where he blossomed into one of baseball’s best power hitters with the Blue Jays from 2008-17. The struggling Mets play interleague games at Rogers Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Needless to say, he’s excited.

”I’m trying not to think about it,” Bautista said last week. ”I’m trying not to dwell on it too much.”

”Obviously, I played there for 10 years. I consider it one of my homes away from home Christian Wilkins Jersey ,” he added. ”I’m just going to let it come and enjoy it when it gets here.”

Reyes, also Bautista’s teammate in Toronto from 2013-15, said last week the outfielder had been staying at his house in New York for the past few days and the two talked about the upcoming games in Toronto.

Reyes figures the Blue Jays might have a video tribute planned, but he’s sure Bautista will receive a standing ovation after helping the team end a 22-year playoff drought and reach consecutive AL Championship Series in 2015 and 2016.

Bautista, still sporting a neatly trimmed beard, acknowledged he anticipates a warm reception.

”I don’t expect anything else from Canadian fans. They’re top-notch, a class act,” he said. ”We had a pretty good run there and I had a successful career in my years there. … I did enjoy my time in Toronto greatly and it’s going to be great to be back.”

Bautista hit 54 home runs for the Blue Jays in 2010 and led the majors again with 43 the following season. He finished in the top four in AL MVP voting both years.

And of course, who could ever forget his gigantic bat flip after connecting for a decisive homer in the 2015 playoffs against Texas?

As he approached free agency, Bautista’s numbers dropped off in 2016. Toronto brought him back on a one-year contract for $18 million last season, but he slumped to a .203 batting average with 23 homers, 65 RBIs and 170 strikeouts, and the Blue Jays moved on.

”As a player, we understand that this is a business,” Reyes said. ”He wanted to stay there, but I don’t know. When you build that fan base and the people love you and stuff and you (are) successful in one place, you don’t want to go someplace else. But it comes a time in baseball. It just happens. Yeah, he understands that.”

Two days after he was released by Atlanta, the Mets signed Bautista on May 22 for the $545,000 major league minimum to provide a right-handed bat in the outfield following injuries to Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Lagares.

Bautista stepped off a plane and right into the starting lineup, hitting a double in his first at-bat Michael Deiter Jersey , just as he did with the Braves. This time, though, he hasn’t stopped producing even though everything around him keeps falling apart.

With the help of 24 walks in 105 plate appearances, Bautista began Sunday with a .438 on-base percentage for the last-place Mets. He’d reached base safely in 15 straight games and even played some solid defense.

”It’s definitely impressive and we are in awe of him,” 25-year-old outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. ”He’s a great veteran presence. He’s got a lot of wisdom, knowledge and understanding of the game. … I think just that preparation, that work ethic and that eagle eye he’s got, it’s been a great combination.”

Now playing every day in a familiar corner outfield spot after right fielder Jay Bruce went on the disabled list, too, Bautista began Sunday hitting .266 for the Mets with three homers, 10 doubles and 13 RBIs.

”A dangerous wild card,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before a game against New York last week. ”A man that wanted to play, felt he could play and was going to do what it took necessary to put himself in a position to play. He stayed active, he stayed ready, his agent reached out to every club. I mean, we got a call. That hey, BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Once he found the courage, Kareem Hunt watched the infamous video of him shoving a woman and then kicking her while she was on the ground.Like millions of others, he was disturbed.“I was like, ‘Wow Daniel Jones Jersey , it’s pretty bad. That’s not me,'” he said, recalling his reaction. “I didn’t really watch the video for a long, long time.”Hunt swears he’s since changed.Given a second chance by his hometown team and the NFL, Hunt spoke Wednesday for the first time since being signed in February by the Browns, who are hoping the 23-year-old has learned from his mistakes and can outrun his violent past.It’s been an embarrassing and humbling five months for Hunt, released in December by Kansas City just days after a surveillance video showed him physically abusing a woman during an argument in a Cleveland hotel hallway in February 2018. He wasn’t forthcoming to the Chiefs about what transpired and paid the price.But Browns general manager John Dorsey, who drafted him in 2017 while GM with the Chiefs, decided Hunt deserved a shot at redemption.Hunt said he’s determined to make the most of it.“I’m just taking it very seriously,” he said. “Like day by day, I’m just making the best decisions at the time and place. And doing everything I can and prevent something like that from happening again.”Hunt said he’s promised Dorsey his violent days are over.“I told him, ‘You can trust me.’ I’ve got to earn his trust, and I’ve got to earn everybody’s trust in the whole organization,” he said. “I’m not willing to mess that up.”Hunt must serve an eight-game league suspension for “physical altercations” before he can play. For now, he’s allowed to practice with his teammates during the Browns’ offseason training activities, and his time on the field is providing a sanctuary and a place to begin making amends.While he’s remorseful about his past, Hunt knows only his actions going forward will help him earn back trust.He’s keeping a close circle of friends and working in the community by speaking to high school students about making smarter decisions.“It’s very meaningful for them and for me,” he said, “just knowing that I can help them, and talk to these kids about just life. A lot of them have dreams to play football and stuff like that, too Dexter Lawrence Jersey , and just giving them positive lift-up. Just always believing in themselves.”Hunt said part of his motivation for speaking was because he didn’t have the same opportunity.“I didn’t really have anybody come talk to me when I was in high school,” he said. “Somebody to look up to and explain that, ‘You know, nobody’s perfect and you gotta learn from your mistakes and don’t make the same mistakes.'”Hunt has been undergoing weekly counseling to help control his behavior. He denied being treated for an alcohol dependency.“Not so much alcohol, but it was just in there a little bit,” he said. “I pretty much just focused on making myself the better person and talking to them about how to control my anger. I’m not an angry person at all, definitely not. I just felt like I had to make better decisions. I want to talk about ways to make better decisions in certain situations I’m put in.”Hunt has not reached out to the victim in the video. If he did, he would ask for her forgiveness.“If I was to see her, I would apologize to her face,” he said. “But I have not had the chance to do that. I don’t know any ways of contacting her.”As for the Chiefs, who felt betrayed by his dishonesty, Hunt insists he told them what he could before the video showed a different story.“I know I’m not going to mess this up again,” he said. “And the Chiefs, I didn’t really lie. I just told them what I knew at the time, and when the video came out, it was me seeing it too for the first time again, it was so long ago. They felt like I lied to them. That’s all right.”Hunt said a renewed Christian faith has helped him get through this period of his life. He plans to be baptized Sunday.“I’m looking forward, so I can feel reborn,” he said.