Dubon is a former soccer player who grew up in Honduras and moved to California during high school. As a scrawny 15-year-old living with his family in Honduras, Dubon was given a choice. He could remain at home, which was the easy decision. Or join a Christian missionary baseball team on its way back to California, live with a family he had never met, and trust that a franchise would take a chance on his raw skills.

Dubon made the choice that helped him follow his dream.

"I knew it was going to pay off eventually. Nothing good comes easy," Dubon said in 2016. "I had to make a sacrifice, and I still do have to make sacrifices. You have to give to get back. That's what I did. I gave when I was 15 and I'm still giving when I'm 21. Right now, it's paying off."

In 2010, Mauricio was a sophomore at Lyceum Bilingual Central when Impact Baseball International made its mission trip to Honduras to help rebuild a baseball field and bring needed medical attention to the Central American country. The group arrived on a Sunday, and by Tuesday the coaches saw Dubon's raw skills on the baseball diamond.

Dubon was offered the opportunity to return to Sacramento with the team and continue his baseball odyssey. His mother, Jeannette Garcia, didn't hesitate to tell him to follow his dream. Dubon got a tourist visa and was heading state-side.

"It's hard, but I knew it was worth it and God had a plan for me," Dubon said. "At the time it was hard because I was 15 years old, leaving my mom, leaving my brother, leaving my dad, it was not easy. I knew it was going to be worth it at some point."

Dubon attended Capital Christian School in his new home of Sacramento. He joined the baseball team and excelled with his new teammates.

"I knew I was really good. It was just a matter of giving me a chance, and these people gave me the chance," Dubon said. "In high school, I did really well. It was just a matter of getting looks because I came from a small high school and a lot of people were focusing on big high schools. I wasn't considering going somewhere else because I came here too late. I knew it was good. It was just a matter of having the right time to showcase."

Dubon still visits Honduras every winter to see his family. His father, Danilo Dubon, has visited state-side to see him play, but his mother is waiting until he makes his Major League debut to come to the states. (Damien Sordelett - MiLB.com - 6/15/2016)

In 2013, Mauricio got drafted by the Red Sox (see Transactions below). 

In 2015, the Baseball America Prospect Handbook rated Mauricio as the 23rd best prospect in the Red Sox organization. They moved him up to #13 in the winter before 2016 Spring Training.

After the Brewers acquired him, Dubon was #11 in their system in the Spring of 2017. He was at #13 in the off-season before 2018 spring camps opened. And he was at #6 in the Spring of 2019. They had him at #10 early in 2020.

Dubon is endeavoring to become the first native of Honduras ever to reach the Big Leagues.

Given the limited baseball infrastructure and the paucity of opportunities to be scouted in his native country, Dubon—who was introduced to the game by his parents and grandparents—moved to Sacramento for his junior year of high school in order to play. The change was drastic.

"A missions trip came to Honduras, and they started giving away stuff and did some clinics," said Dubon, who grew up speaking Spanish but attended a bilingual school in Honduras. "[Capital Christian School head baseball coach] Nelson Randolph was there and saw me play. He asked me if I wanted to come back and play for the high school. This was all in a one-week period, and I said, 'Yes, of course.' It was an opportunity that I felt I couldn't let go by."

His decision was not without its challenges. Dubon did not see his mother or anyone else in his family for two years—not until they came for the state championship game during his senior year. His lack of experience in baseball also made the transition difficult. Working in his favor was the fact that he had played a lot of soccer, and his athleticism carried over to the diamond.

“‘My mom never let me spend the night at other peoples’ houses, but she let me go to another country. That kind of surprised me,” Dubon said. “It was kind of overwhelming. I was 16. It was a kind of hard transition, but I knew what I wanted. It was hard but I knew what I wanted.”

Dubon, who speaks Spanish and English, made enough of an impression that the Red Sox drafted him in the 26th round in 2013. He quickly became an organizational favorite given his defensive tools in the middle infield and his ability to make consistent, solid contact. He struck out just 9.4 percent of the time in 2014.

In 2017, Dubon represented the Brewers in the All-Star Futures game.

When he arrived in Miami to prepare for his appearance in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, Brewers prospect Mauricio Dubon graciously agreed to sit down with Cespedes Family BBQ for an interview. During that interview, he revealed something kind of amazing.

His mother had never seen him play a professional game of baseball before. That is, until the Futures Game. Dubon became the first player from Honduras to play for the World team in Futures Game history. Despite living in the States with a host family since he was 15, he's able to visit with his family back in Honduras regularly. But still, his mother had never had a chance to watch him play in a pro uniform. (Dakota Gardner-Cut4-MLB-July 11, 2017)

Dubon clearly has a lot of talent, and he loves the game. In his first big league camp in March 2018, Mauricio  impressed Brewers manager Craig Counsell on those counts.

“He’s a competitive kid” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “I’ve given him a couple of days off and he doesn’t like that. He wants to play. He wants the action. He’s at a stage of his career where this is really helpful for him.”

He plays with a high energy and enthusiasm, showing an obvious love for the game, and he demonstrates both leadership skills and maturity on and off the field.

The year 2018 was supposed to be a big year for Mauricio Dubon and the Brewers. He was on track to make his major league debut, overtake the starting second base job, and be the first native Honduran to make the Major Leagues.

But, he tore his ACL in a minor league game in April and missed the rest of the season. That led the Brewers to acquiring Jonathan Schoop and going through the rest of 2018 and the offseason with uncertainty at the position.

In the 27 games prior to his injury last season, Dubon hit an incredible .343 with a .922 OPS. 15 of his 37 hits went for extra bases, including four home runs. He also stole six bases.

In 2017, Dubon hit .274 with 29 doubles, 8 home runs, and 38 stolen bases in 129 games split between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Colorado Springs.

In his minor league career, Dubon is a .300/.349/.412 hitter. He gets on base and steals bases very effectively. His 60-grade speed is the best of his five tools. His worst tool is his power, which has been given a 35-grade. But his power has increased as he’s gone through the minor leagues. He’s still not going to become a power hitter, but his pop could surprise some people. (David Gasper - Fansided - February 11, 2019)

During the winter before 2019 spring training, Dubon embarked on a social media campaign to show he had recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

On December 16, Dubon posted video on Twitter of him taking swings in the batting cage at the Brewers’ spring training complex in Maryvale, Arizona, with this message: “Hey, is he gonna be ready for spring—yep.”

The next day, Dubon posted the same video with an additional message: “Will he still have the same swing—yes sir.”

And so it went. Dubon would later post a video of him making turns at second base during fielding practice with the message: “second base, feeling very comfortable.”

Dubon has worked hard to recover from the knee injury he suffered a month into the 2018 season at Triple-A. He was off to a blazing start, riding a 23-game hitting streak and batting .343 when he suffered the injury while trying to escape a rundown on the bases. (Tom Haudricourt - Baseball America - February 2019)

July 7, 2019: Mauricio became the first player born and raised in Honduras to play in the Major Leagues when he grounded out at the end of an eight-pitch at-bat against closer Felipe Vazquez in the eighth inning of the Brewers’ first-half finale loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.

Dubon arrived at PNC Park about an hour before the game and fulfilled a long-held dream when he made history for his country. (Gerald Young, an outfielder who played for the Astros, Rockies and Cardinals from 1987-1994, was born in Honduras, but raised in the United States.) 

“It still hasn’t sunk in yet, being on a big league field, having a whole country watch you play,” said Dubon after a 6-5 defeat that was briefly delayed by rain after the fifth inning. “We had the rain delay and everything, and I had a chance to look at my phone at how everything was going, and the whole country was watching. It was special knowing I had that support back home. Real special. I’ll remember this for the rest of my life.”

In addition to the support he knew was coming from his home country, Dubon also had support in the stands in Pittsburgh. After Dubon got news of his promotion late the previous day, he called home to his parents in Honduras, Danilo and Jeannette, to get a flight to Pittsburgh.

He also called Andy and Sandy Ritchey in Sacramento, the host parents who housed Dubon for his final two years of high school after meeting him on a mission trip, which is how he came to be drafted by the Red Sox in 2013. They caught a redeye flight to Houston, where they happened to run into Dubon while he was connecting flights from New Orleans. (Randhawa and McCalvy - mlb.com)

August 29, 2019: Mauricio singled to right field for his first Major League hit in the fifth inning.

NANCY

Mauricio spent the three-month hiatus from baseball in 2020 in a high-rise apartment in Miami, but the complex lacked one key amenity: a batting cage.

Dubón wasn’t inclined to visit outside facilities, as he didn’t want to risk exposing himself or his fiancée, Nancy, to the coronavirus. So he improvised. He made a trip to an Ace Hardware store to pick up PVC pipes, ordered a pitching machine and net off Amazon and built his own cage on his balcony.

“It actually worked out pretty well,” Dubón said. “I was doing some drills, working on some basic stuff that I needed to do to get ready. It was just more balcony and cage.”  (Guardado - mlb.com - 7/12/2020)

Who is Mauricio's wife, Nancy Herrera?

Hailing from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Mauricio Dubón is a professional baseball shortstop and utility man who now proudly wears the Houston Astros jersey. He is married to Nancy Herrera, and they share a beautiful bond.

Nancy holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in management and international business from Loyola University in New Orleans.

The couple's romantic journey took an enchanting turn when Dubón proposed to Nancy in Disneyland Paris. On October 15, 2019, Nancy joyfully accepted the proposal, and they exchanged their vows in November 2020, celebrating their union.  (Aanchal Jaura - Jul 5, 2023)

2020 Season: An underrated talent, Dubon has established himself as a legitimate Major Leaguer. In 2020, the infielder recorded a solid .274 average, 19 RBI, four homers, and 43 hits over 157 at-bats. Barring a major setback, he should be a part of a rebuilding Giants team for years to come.

Nov 25, 2020: Dubón wears No. 1 on the back of his Giants jersey, a nod to his improbable journey to the Majors. When the 26-year-old infielder/outfielder debuted with the Brewers in 2019, he became the first player who was born and raised in Honduras to play in the big leagues.

Dubón moved to the United States at 15 as a foreign-exchange student to pursue his dream of becoming a professional baseball player, but he remains firmly rooted in Honduras. He returns to his native country each offseason to visit friends and family and give back to his community, a mission he felt even more acutely after two hurricanes—Eta and Iota—devastated Honduras within weeks of each other.

HELPING HONDURAS

Dubón flew into his hometown of San Pedro Sula the day before Hurricane Eta made landfall on Nov. 3 and witnessed the torrent of rain the Category 4 storm inflicted in Honduras, a Central American country with a population of more than 9 million people that was already facing high levels of poverty. The damage caused by the natural disasters, coupled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, created a humanitarian crisis, prompting Dubón to step in and help those in need.

“We knew it was going to be bad,” Dubón said. “We saw nobody was helping out here, and then we just decided that we needed to do something. Honduran people have a saying over here: El pueblo salva al pueblo, meaning "the people save the people." The authorities are not doing anything, and it's been really bad, so we decided to just take it upon ourselves.”

 Dubón organized a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to help hurricane victims in Honduras and is using the funds to purchase basic supplies like non-perishable food, bottled water, personal hygiene products, clothes and face masks. He and his wife, Nancy, go on supply runs to local supermarkets and personally deliver the aid to shelters and neighborhoods that were hit hard by the storms.

Dubón said he is also hoping to buy mattresses, beds and refrigerators for families who lost their homes in the ensuing floods. He has raised more than $19,000, with president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, manager Gabe Kapler and other Giants teammates making donations. Dubón isn’t seeking publicity for his efforts, but his newfound fame has made anonymity harder to come by.

“I hate taking pictures when I do that,” Dubón said. “It's funny, because when I was doing that and out buying, I was trying to go like incognito and then somebody recognized me because I have a tattoo on the leg. Somebody recognized me and took a picture of me. Kind of like TMZ, but in Honduras. It went viral here, and then people started realizing I was helping out. People got the word around and everybody started trying to help out.”

Philanthropy is nothing new for Dubón, who has also participated in a charity softball tournament in San Pedro Sula that raises awareness and funds for pediatric cancer. Last winter, the event raised $15,000, up from $200 in its inaugural year.

The tournament won’t be held this year due to the pandemic, but Dubón remains committed to using his platform to give back to his homeland and help promote the sport he loves. He has emerged as an ambassador for baseball in Honduras, which is better known for producing soccer players than ballplayers, and regularly donates equipment to make the sport more accessible for kids.

Dubón hopes his growing profile will not only inspire other kids to play baseball but also help develop the necessary infrastructure to support a new wave of Honduran talent within the game.  (M Guardado - MLB.com - Nov 25, 2020)

Dominoes are at the heart of Mauricio's reawakening.

The infielder’s offensive identity disappeared after the Astros acquired him the previous May. He abandoned a career-long approach and swung for power he did not possess, prompting an offseason of wondering how it all went askew.

The search for answers started in spring training; one particular teammate seemed the most logical place to start.

“You don’t say ‘Hey, I want to be a millionaire’ and then ask a guy on the street …” Dubón said. “You have to say, ‘I want to make money’ to a guy who’s already a millionaire. I want to learn how to hit again, go to a guy that’s the best hitter in the league.”

Yordan Alvarez diagnosed Dubón’s problems and presented him with a path forward. The initial conversations from February and March have evolved into a daily routine over the first three weeks of Houston’s season. The two have adjacent lockers inside the home clubhouse at Minute Maid Park, where Dubón can pepper Alvarez with whatever hitting questions he has or prepare with him for that day’s starting pitcher.

Sometime in between, the two break out a set of dominoes. Mauricio played throughout his childhood in Honduras. First baseman José Abreu brought his own set to spring training and turned Dubón on to a style he and Alvarez know well: “Cuban dominoes,” Dubón calls them — playing Double Nine instead of Double Six.

After the Astros lost their road opener against the Twins on April 7, Mauricio went to Alvarez’s hotel room and played against him. Alvarez hit a grand slam the next afternoon. Dubón supplied two hits of his own during a 5-1 win at Target Field.

“We just stick with it now,” Dubón said. “We play every day. We go at it. It’s good because it’s not lopsided.”

How dedicated is the duo to this new hobby? On a recent afternoon, an Astros clubhouse attendant delivered a portable dominoes table to Dubón’s locker at Minute Maid Park. He and Alvarez split the cost and plan to take it on road trips.

Dubón leads the team with a .340 batting average and has a hit in 12 consecutive games. He’s struck out twice in 53 at-bats and is thriving in part thanks to Alvarez’s simple, yet sorely needed, advice.

“We talk more about approach more than anything else. I haven’t changed my swing. I haven’t changed anything, it’s just a new mindset,” Dubón said. “Pick a pitch, go with a plan. If you’re going to die, die with a plan. Don’t try to change it. Don’t be afraid to go up there and fail with a plan. I’m going to fail, just fail with a plan.”

Dubón tries to be a sponge among the superstars seated around him. Dubón often tells Michael Brantley, “I want to grow up to be like you.” And he credits Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford for helping him evolve defensively. A daily game of dominoes with one of the sport’s most dominant hitters has done the same at the plate.

“It’s something that I always take pride in, learning stuff,” Dubón said. “He’s the best hitter in the league. It would be dumb for me not to go over there and pick his brain, ask him for advice. I’m older than him, but he’s the best hitter in the league. He’s simplified the game a lot for me.” (Rome - Apr 18, 2023 - The Athletic)

On June 19, 2022, Mauricio made his major league debut with the Astros. He became a popular Astros player since he became the first Honduran player in Major League History to play in and win a World Series. 

 2023 Season: No Astro outperformed expectations in 2023 more than Dubón. Much of the fanbase wanted Houston to move on from Dubie after a dreadful 2022 season, but he more than made up for his struggles in 2023.

Dubón kept the Astros afloat during the two months they missed Altuve, finishing as a Gold Glove finalist at second base and winning the utility Gold Glove award. While a player of Dubón's caliber probably shouldn't be batting leadoff in 2023, he did a more than admirable job.

Altogether, Dubie hit .278 with a .720 OPS and 97 OPS+. One year prior he hit .214 with a .565 OPS.

Dubón is a singles hitting utility player, which is a great asset to have. He's above-average defensively at multiple positions and can slap the ball around the field.  (Alec Brown | Dec 18, 2023)

2024 Season: Mauricio Dubón might be MLB’s ultimate super utility man, with the ability to play everywhere but pitcher and catcher. While he’s solid defensively across the diamond, it’s his lackluster offensive profile, with an 87 wRC+ and .657 OPS in 2024.

TRANSACTIONS

June 2013: The Red Sox chose Dubon in the 26th round, out of Capital Christian High School in Sacramento, CA. He signed with scout Demond Smith.

December 6, 2016: The Red Sox traded Dubon, RHP Josh Pennington, 3B Travis Shaw, and a PTBNL to the Brewers; acquiring RHP Tyler Thornburg.

July 31, 2019: The Giants traded LHP Drew Pomeranz and RHP Ray Black to the Brewers for INF Mauricio Dubon.

May 14, 2022: The Astros acquired utility player Mauricio Dubón in a trade with the Giants; in return, the Giants received minor league catcher Michael Papierski. (Editor's note: Very bad trade for the Giants.)

Jan 13, 2023: Dubon and the Astros avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal for $1.4 million. 

Dubon still needs to alter his approach and focus on swinging on pitches he can impact. If he makes that adjustment, he has the potential to be an average hitter with enough pop to produce 8 to 12 homers per season. So a 50 grade hit tool with 40 grade power.

Dubon's excellent hand-eye coordination allows him to make consistent contact from the right side of the plate, and he has hit for average throughout his pro career. He tripled his previous career high with 24 homers in 2019, the product of looking for spots to drive the ball in the air more frequently to his pull side and also perhaps the souped-up baseballs in Triple-A and the big leagues. After tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in 2018, he was a half-step slower and wasn't as aggressive on the bases last year, though he still has solid speed. (Spring 2020)

Mauricio has sharp instincts in all areas of the game. He has superb bat-to-ball skills at the plate and solid bat speed, allowing him to generate consistent line-drive contact. He seldom walks but doesn’t strike out much, and he projects to at least an average hitter who will hit enough to make up for little home run power. (Tom Haudricourt - BA Prospect Handbook - Spring, 2019)

Dubon has shown outstanding hand-eye coordination, the ability to square up pitches for hard contact and a clean swing to hit line drives to all fields, with occasional pull power. He also shows skill as a bunter.

He is able to consistently put the bat on the ball in a special way, and he is growing into an ability to drive the ball for doubles.

Mauricio lacks a single plus tool, but the sum of his parts equals a very good ballplayer. His baseball intellect is very high—on both sides of the ball.

Spring Training 2021: Mauricio has drawn rave reviews from the Giants this spring, not only for his bulked-up physique, but also for his more selective approach at the plate.  He’s now making a concerted effort to chase fewer pitches and instead focus on the ones he can drive.

“Pretty much, if I can't hit it out, I'm not swinging,” Dubón said. “It's been helping out a lot. Even though I have yet to hit a home run, it feels like I’ve made a lot of progress. Being able to have that in my pocket, that I'm not chasing anymore, it's pretty neat.”  (Guardado - mlb.om - 3/18/2021)

June 22, 2021:  As he was rounding the bases following a solo home run in the Giant's 5-0 win, Mauricio Dubón tried to spot his wife Nancy in the stands at Angel Stadium. He knew what section she was in, but couldn’t spot her in the crowd after hitting his fifth homer of the year and his first since May 31.

Despite not being able to spot her, Dubón later described the homer run as emotional. He's reworked his stride at the plate as he searches for better results.

“It's been tough,” Dubón said. “I've been able to put good swings on the ball and not get the results I wanted. I was just talking to my wife about this. It was more personal than anything else.”

The results showed up on the first pitch the 26-year-old saw from Halos lefty Andrew Heaney. Dubón turned around a fastball Heaney placed on the outer half of the plate for a 390-foot home run on a night when he went 2-for-4.

To make strides at the plate, Dubón said he has eliminated his leg kick. He has continued to put in work in the cages and at home with Nancy by his side throughout the process, which made the solo homer more special.

“I've been putting in a lot of work and the results are showing,” he said. “When I hit it, it felt kinda like it's a such a relief, just because you've been putting in the work and she's been by my side all the time. So it was really pretty good.”

Dubón has had limited at-bats in June, just 28, but the retooling of his swing has led to strong results more recently. He has slashed .462/.462/.769 in his last seven games. But even in the limited opportunities, Giants manager Gabe Kapler said Dubón has made noticeable improvements.

“Mauricio continues to kind of tinker and play with the length of his stride, how much load he gets [and] how aggressive he is to the baseball,” Kapler said. “He's constantly trying to find the sweet spot. I thought last night he was loaded on his backside well. The move wasn't too big. It was under control, and he continues to make progress.” (D Gurrrero - MLB.com - June 23, 2021)

In August 2020, Mauricio became the Giants everyday center fielder.

Early in the season, Dubon split his time evenly between center field, shortstop and second base. From Aug. 16 through the end of the season, he played exclusively center.

Dubon “naturally gets good jumps and reads,” Kapler said. “He has naturally good technique.”

Kapler listed areas in the field, on the bases and at the plate in which Dubon needs to improve, from consistently hitting the cutoff man, to defense near the wall, to base-stealing (he had two steals in five attempts) and pitch selection.

“He’s actually shown stretches of (proficiency in) all of them,” Kapler said, “but they haven’t been as dependable as they will be after he’s gotten more experience under his belt and seen this game from a number of different angles.”

Dubon is a native of Honduras. He went to high school in Sacramento.

Kapler appreciates Dubon’s “willingness to listen, to ask questions. Mauricio has aptitude, and he is hungry for knowledge and has a drive to improve.” (Steve Kromer - Baseball America - Nov., 2020)

Dubon's fast hands are an asset offensively and defensively. He has spent most of his time in pro ball at shortstop, displaying quick feet and solid arm strength. He's an average defender at short, better than that at second base and also has seen action at third base and center field. (Spring 2020)

Despite limited experience as an amateur, Dubon shows smooth action and average range at shortstop thanks to good body control and footwork, perhaps owing to his soccer playing background. He has 55 grade on defense.

He has also demonstrated soft hands and the ability to throw from all angles. 

Mauricio has the instincts for the game and the athletic ability to be a utilityman in the Majors. His defensive versatility is quite impressive. But he may develop enough to start at shortstop.

“We have a developmental philosophy where we try to get all of our players, even our top prospects, exposure to multiple positions,” Brewers GM David Stearns said. “Mauricio will be no different, but I anticipate that next year his primary position will be shortstop.”

And short is Dubon's favorite position.

"I love playing shortstop, but wherever they need me is OK,” Dubon said. “I’ve done everything I can to prepare myself mentally and physically to be an elite player. There is always room for improvement.

“Baseball is the same everywhere. I’m looking forward to showing people (with the Brewers) what I can do. It’s my time to get better.” (Spring, 2017)

GOLD GLOVER

In 2023, Dubon won a Gold Glove as a utility player. He was tremendous defensively at second base while filling in for the injured José Altuve. But he also played first, third, short, and all three outfield positions for the Astros.

In 2024, Dubon was nominated for a Gold Glove.

The 30-year-old shined as one of the most versatile defenders in the Majors. He made starts at left field (44), center field (18), second base (13), right field (11), third base (9), first base (9) and shortstop (3). Dubón became the first player in Astros franchise history to start at seven different positions in a single season.

Mauricio is fast, and a threat to steal every time he gets on base. He has 55 grade speed on the 20-80 scouting scale.

May 7-end of 2018 season: Dubon was on the DL.  Mauricio was diagnosed with a torn ACL in his left knee. Dubon will undergo surgery as soon as his swelling subsides.

Mauricio was caught in a rundown after breaking too soon off first base and twisted his left knee trying to escape. He knew he had done something bad. But the severity of the injury wasn’t known until he traveled to Milwaukee, where an MRI revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament.