Elliott: Mikey Batiste has hoop genes, diamond dreams
Ontario Blue Jays switch-hitting slugger Mikey Batiste holds the CPBL championship trophy that his 14U team won in 2024.
September 17, 2025
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
How good is Mikey Batiste?
“He is a major-league sized player right now. The fact he can switch hit with some bat to ball already is quite impressive. He ran a 7.3 60-yard dash and has massive power. It’s kind of laughable watching him considering his age.” _ Veteran Canadian Premier League coach.
“Well, I have not seen everyone and it is really early to be talking about this, but twist my arm behind my back and I’d say Sean Duncan is the best player here -- probably a first rounder in 2026 -- and the next best projectable player here just might be Mikey Batiste and he’s not eligible until 2028.” _ Seasoned scout.
“If he stays on this trajectory, he might garnish the same attention as Gareth Morgan (a second rounder to the Seattle Mariners in 2013) did. I don’t recall coming across a kid of his size and skillet who swings from both sides at his age in my almost 20 years of doing this. Still early, but potentially a few exciting years ahead.” _ Long-time elite coach.
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Who is Mikey Batiste?
Well, he is the son of a former international hoops great.
During batting practice Tuesday morning at the Rogers Centre, the switch hitter’s exit velocity was clocked at 103.5 MPH from the left side and 104 MPH from the right side. Most scouts would call it even. The 6-foot-3 (”and a half, we were measured today,” he says matter of factly) ran a 7.3 electronically-timed 60-yard dash.
Mikey’s father, Michael Batiste, is an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors designing offensive plays for the team’s big men. He earned All-Conference honours with the Arizona State Sun Devils, played in the NBA one year, had a glorious career winning championships during his 14 years in Europe and a 10-year coaching career as an assistant in the NBA.
So why is he sitting in Section 123 behind home plate answering questions about his son the ball player rather being at a hoops court somewhere?
“You know my son asked me a few years ago whether I was upset that he was not playing basketball,” Michael said. “Not at all. My job is to create the opportunity for him.”
Says Mikey with a maturity beyond his years, “I still play basketball -- not at a high level -- but baseball feels better. I have a spiritual connection to baseball.”
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Coach Batiste is told some very experienced eyes are using their voices to say some wonderfully complimentary things about his son.
Will it go to his head?
“You can take the compliments and get a big head ... or you can take them as a compliment,” Michael says of Mikey.
It all began in Brooklyn with the 78th Precinct Youth Council Lions.
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It all started for Mikey playing T-ball in Brooklyn -- 78th Precinct Youth Council Lions -- when pop was coaching the borough’s NBA team. And now it continues ... be it the Athletes Turf, home of the Ontario Blue Jays, the Mississauga homestead in Port Credit or the Rogers Centre.
Mikey Batiste developed a love for baseball at a young age while swinging a Spiderman bat.
Mikey used to hit off a batting machine in their 40-yard cage. Yet, it was not always reliable. So mom Sarah and father Mike purchased a MaxBP pitching machine. The machine fires whiffle balls -- roughly the size of ping pong balls -- while Mikey, sister Sydney, of the mighty Mississauga Majors, or anyone else -- swings a bat the size of a broom handle.
We remember Tony Fernandez doing a similar drill years ago in Dunedin and we also remember hit hitting unpopped kernels of corn. One pop went for a can of corn as they used to say 80 years ago.
Michael said he showed Mikey a video of Albert Pujols who was slumping, explaining how he placed the tee at the front of the plate, the back of the plate, inside and outside.
“Some players teased him but he played 20 years,” noted Michael.
Playing for the 14U Ontario Blue Jays for Shady Ashamalla, Chris Bowles and Graeham Luttor, Mikey hit 10 home runs, seven from the left side, three from the right. They won a tournament at Notre Dame, beating the Toledo Tigers in the final.
His best day of many expected to come came playing for coaches Connor Morro and Jared Kennedy, against the 15U Windsor Selects. In back-to-back doubleheaders (facing right-handers Day I, lefties on Day II), he managed four doubles, four singles a homer and a walk.
On the way up, Mikey Batista honed his skills with the Rockies in the Winter Garden Little League in Winter Garden, Fla., in 2019.
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“Mikey’s character is an attribute, he’s well-spoken and he’s a good teammate,” the coach says. “As a player you can bring guys together or you can be a cancer in the locker room. I’ve seen it first hand. I am not giving you any names, but I have had first-hand exposure to it over the years.”
Michael says he tells his son “don’t straddle the fence -- be two feet in,” and explains how the son’s situation is different than his as a teenager.
“I had brothers, sisters and family to support, I was our family’s shining star,” Michael said. “Mikey doesn’t have same pressure I did. He does not have to support my wife and I.”
Mikey (middle) competed in a tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. in 2022. His family was there to cheer him on, including (from left to right): his dad, Mike; sister, Sydney and mom, Sarah.
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“I grew up in Long Beach, Calif., the sporting capital of the world some say, I got to see the Los Angeles Lakers,” said Michael.
In college with the Arizona State Sun Devils, he led the Pac-10 in blocked shots in the 1997–98 season and was named first-team All-Pac-10 for the 1998–99 season. He played one year in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Michael then headed to Europe playing in Belgium, Italy, Greece and Turkey. He helped Panathinaikos Athens capture eight consecutive Greek League championships and five consecutive Greek Cups. With Panathinaikos, he won the EuroLeague championship, by winning the EuroLeague Final Four three times. In 2010, he was named Greek League MVP.
He has been an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and is now in his third year with the Raptors.
Best teammate the coach ever had in all his years on the court or courtside?
Dimitris Diamantidis a teammate of Michael’s in Greece.
“Many say he is the best greatest European player of all time,” Michael said. “He was quiet, always sat in the corner listening to his music. He never really talked that much. But he could play.”
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Mikey singled and walked in three at bats as his Navy team lost 9-1 to Royal.
FieldHouse Pirates William Henderson (Mississauga, Ont.) hit an inside-the-park two-run home run to right-centre scoring Xavier-Raphael Brault (Blainville, Que.) and Ramsey Chung (Mississauga, Ont.). Henderson also singled.
Damarcus Rideout-Carter (Brampton, Ont.) pitched three scoreless for the win, while C Gabe Larocque (Sudbury, Ont.) doubled.
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Mikey is asked if he has a Canadian passport?
“Not yet,” says Mikey.
Mikey’s best attribute, according to Mikey: “My power.”
Mikey’s weakness, according to Mikey: “I’m not slow, but I don’t have blazing speed. I’m trying to work on that. Get better. Faster.”
His adoring audience can’t wait.