Braves’ Dubón: ‘Being recognized by my peers, I think that’s the biggest one’

Mauricio Dubón was supposed to be given his Heart and Hustle Award during the Braves’ last homestand, Aug. 10-16. But he asked the club if he could delay the on-field ceremony to later in August so his wife, Nancy, and his son, Luciano, could be present.

When Dubón was finally presented the award Wednesday, an honor bestowed on him by the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association, he stood in front of the pitcher’s mound on a red carpet with Braves coach Eddie Pérez while Nancy and Luciano, who turns 2 in November, watched.

“It’s funny, people are like, ‘Oh, (Luciano) won’t remember.’ But I will,” Dubón said. “Probably selfish of me in that sense, but I just try to have him involved, and hopefully one day he’s proud.”

It was apropos that on a night Dubón was honored for an award given “annually to active players who exemplify a true passion for the game and who best embody the values, spirit and traditions of the game,” that he would be right in the middle of decisive game action in a 4-3 win over the Dodgers at Truist Park.

In a 3-3 game in the bottom of the eighth, after Matt Olson hit a leadoff double, Dubón came to the plate and squared to bunt. With the infield charging, Dubón pulled the bat back and broke his bat on a slow grounder to second.

The productive out moved Olson to third, and Olson scored later in the inning on a two-out single from Ozzie Albies.

Braves manager Walt Weiss said Dubón did all that on his own.

“He’s a smart player, man,” Weiss said. “Just a really heady player, really smart player, great baseball instincts.”

Minutes later, in the top of the ninth, with the game-tying run on third and with one out, Mookie Betts hit a chopper off the plate and over the head of Braves closer Raisel Iglesias. Dubón, playing shortstop, charged the ball and picked it on a short hop, throwing to first for the second out of the inning.

“He’s a ballplayer. He knows the situation of the game. You gotta play the game to win and that’s what he does,” Albies said.

Dubón is hitting .270 this year. He has driven in a career-high 63 runs (his previous high for a season was 47) and has 10 homers, tying a career-high set in 2023 with the Astros. He’s hitting .325 with runners in scoring position, and .345 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

With the bases loaded, Dubón is 8-for-14.

“He’s just a tough out,” Weiss said. “Especially in those situations with guys in scoring position because he’s using the entire field and he can shoot the ball down right-field line, he can set you up and turn on something inside. He’s just a really heady player.”

Dubón, who has played left field, center field, third base, shortstop and second base this season, and who has hit everywhere but third in the lineup, said his success in 2026 wouldn’t have been possible without the Braves’ and Weiss’ belief in him. He said only Weiss, Dusty Baker (Dubón’s manager with the Astros) and Bruce Bochy (Dubón’s manager with the Giants) have ever given him a fair chance.

And a chance is all Dubón has ever wanted.

Dubón is from Honduras, a country not exactly noted for producing MLB players. His propensity to hustle was steeped at an early age, knowing he had to try a little bit harder.

“I think that’s the one thing that doesn’t go off,” Dubón said of his hustle. “Yeah, sometimes I’ll jog to first base when I’m out, but when it’s time to run you put the jets on. (Effort is) the one thing you can control, and I think that’s the one thing that’s been a big part of my success.”

As fate would have it, Dubón’s father, Danilo Dubón, was at Truist Park on Wednesday, too. The elder Dubón hadn’t seen his son play in person since the 2022 World Series when he was winning a championship with the Astros.