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Player Bio: Jason Coats
Jul 19, 2010
Author: Katie Montgomery

When Braves outfielder Jason Coats arrived from Texas, he left nothing behind.

With the College World Series ending, Coats wouldn’t have been criticized for being burnt out after a long collegiate season — TCU lost in semi-finals to the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) — instead, he went 4-4 at bat (two singles, a double and a home run) in his first game for Bourne.

Since his July 5th debut, Coats has consistently performed well at the plate and in the outfield.

After four games and fifteen at bats Coats is batting .467, but the season is still young.

“He just got in town,” field manager Harvey Shapiro said. “But he’s doing fine. He gets hits and he’s a good outfielder.”

In his freshman season at TCU, Coats proved he was going to be a valuable asset.

Playing left field in 57 games, he drove in 32 runs, 12 of which came in with two outs in the inning, and finished the season with a .316 batting average racking up 61 base hits, including 17 doubles, two triples and six home runs.

Coats grew up in Allen, Texas watching the Rangers play but it wasn’t until his father, Lewis, introduced him to the game that Coats truly fell in love.

“My Dad forced me to play every sport,” Coats said. “Then he let me choose which ones I liked.”

While attending Plano West High School, Coats was heavily recruited by TCU and chose to attend the school because it was close to home and he liked the coaching staff, he said.

This summer, TCU sent five other players to the Cape League, including Braves catcher Josh Elander.

Shapiro believes the two are fitting in well into the team.

“We’ve had a lot of changeover because of Team USA and guys not coming from the College World Series,” Shapiro said. “The guys who’re having the biggest adjustment are the catchers, outfielders usually have an easier adjustment.”

Coats couldn’t agree more.

“I was expecting it to be a little tougher [fitting in],” Coats said. “But I felt like I was part of the team right when I got here. The guys are real nice up here, they’re good teammates.”